Local elections. PS highlights "historic result" in Serpa

The elected mayor of Serpa, Francisco Picareta (PS), highlighted this Tuesday the “historic result” of the socialists in this municipality, the last communist bastion in the district of Beja, and chose the requalification of the secondary school as a priority.

"The result in Serpa was historic and reflects the desire for change that exists in the municipality. It is very gratifying to have received a majority and a vote of confidence for the next four years," Francisco Picareta told Lusa news agency.

The PS won the Serpa Chamber, with an absolute majority, in Sunday's local elections, conquering a municipality that had always been led by the CDU or by coalitions led by the PCP since 1976 , during the first elections after the Revolution of April 25, 1974.

Francisco Picareta said he "approaches the mandate with great ambition, dedication, and a desire to improve the municipality" and revealed that the first step will be to secure funding for the renovation work at Serpa Secondary School.

"There was a missed opportunity a few years ago, which the [then] municipal government decided not to accept, but we want to carry out this project and secure the funding to get it done. It's a structural project for the municipality," he emphasized.

The president-elect also defined as priorities the reorganization of municipal services, the requalification of the health center and school in Vila Nova de São Bento, and the rehabilitation of business parks.

"To say that there is a specific measure would be an understatement. We want to achieve integrated development and take these first steps with great determination and ambition," he noted.

Francisco Picareta also highlighted the "teamwork" that enabled the PS to achieve this election result, highlighting the contribution of Ricardo Mestre, former Secretary of State for Health in the most recent PS Government, who was elected to the municipal assembly.

The PS won with 41.25% of the votes and obtained four mandates in the chamber, while the CDU (PCP/PEV) obtained 33.62% and three mandates, according to data from the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI).

The third most voted was the PSD/CDS-PP with 8.41% of the votes, followed by Chega with 7.84% and the independent movement Fazer Serpa, led by former mayor João Rocha, with 6.88%.

In Sunday's elections, 12,137 voters were registered in this municipality, with 63.91% of the voter turnout (36.09% abstention rate). Blank votes accounted for 1.13%, while spoiled votes accounted for 0.86%, according to provisional results from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

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