Decentralize - Paulo de Morais, President of the Civic Front

The westernmost country in Europe, Portugal is geographically and physically balanced in terms of territory. Every location is either close to the Atlantic or close to Europe. Its geographical conditions allow for a well-distributed population, harmonious development, and a widespread quality of life. However, its centralized political and administrative structure impedes development.

In Portugal, the Parliament, Military Schools, Bank of Portugal, Statistics Institute, and PSP are all headquartered in Lisbon. Even the GNR, responsible for security in non-urban areas, has its headquarters in Largo do Carmo, right in the center of the capital. This is exactly the opposite of civilized Europe, where central agencies are dispersed throughout the country. The German Central Bank is located in Frankfurt, which is not the capital. The French Military Academy is based in Brittany, not Paris. And so on.
This type of macrocephalous political and administrative organization implies the concentration of tens of thousands of employees in Lisbon, with the corresponding degradation of public services and the quality of life of all inhabitants.
The simple relocation of these bodies would change the face of the country, if the Military Academy were in Bragança or Viana do Castelo, the Assembly of the Republic in Coimbra, the Bank of Portugal in Évora, Guarda or Guimarães… and so on.
There would be a supply of quality public employment throughout the territory. This massive relocation would force a change in the morphology of some medium-sized cities. It would induce new private investment. And, overall, it would require the creation of transportation infrastructure and other facilities. All this change would bring a better quality of life to the Portuguese, those in Lisbon and Porto, but especially to the Portuguese who have been forgotten and neglected in this current model of unhealthy centralism.

Paulo de Morais
President of the Civic Front