Statement against the illegitimate redevelopment of the Praça Martim Moniz in Lisbon

In the evening of Tuesday November 20th of 2018, the Lisbon Municipal Council (CML) presented the redevelopment of Praça Martim Moniz, one of Lisbon’s central squares.
Against this anti-democratic imposition!
For citizen participation and democratic municipalism!
Notwithstanding the lack of prior notice, the CML and Moonbirgade, the private developer, faced a room full of local citizens in the Hotel Mundial. In general, the reactions were of opposition to and criticism of the plan, both because of the planned use of repurposed ship containers and because of the obsession in turning the praça into a commercial area or “terraces for tourists”.
Despite this clear opposition of a majority of citizens present at the presentation meeting, the CML kept to Moonbrigade’s planned project, and re-introduced it, with some minor alterations that would include some extra trees, in another presentation session  in December.
DSC Lisbon 2 affirms its solidarity with the movement of opposition to this plan and its process that emerged and demands that the square’s future be decided democratically, with the participation of all interested Lisbon inhabitants! Public spaces belong to the people and their use should be decided by the people!
Furthermore, this opposition movement has already yielded some results, as the works on the square were stopped in order to enable a deeper public discussion. But public discussions or consultations are not enough. The population is not a mere consultant, they must be the ones to decide!
DiEM25’s DSC Lisbon 2 supports the popular movement that emerged to demand a participatory process and to present a concrete proposal that responds to the population’s needs: a green area for Martim Moniz.
Join this movement and show CML what true democracy is! Send an e-mail of support to jardimartimoniz@gmail.com

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