The municipal deputies of Chega in the Municipal Assembly of Funchal are urging the municipal executive of the PSD/CDS to strictly follow the diploma recently approved in the Assembly of the Republic. They say the law clearly bans the display of flags of an ideological, partisan or associative nature on public buildings. According to Chega, only institutional flags may be flown on State facades and masts, including the National, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and the European Union. The party also warns that deliberate violations can lead to fines ranging from 200 to 4,000 euros. Chega argues that public buildings must remain neutral and should not be used to promote what it describes as divisive agendas or propaganda for the clientele of the left and the extreme left. As support for its position, the deputies cite the example of the Lisbon City Council, which in May rejected a Left Bloc proposal to raise the LGBT flag in the Town Hall on the grounds of institutional neutrality. They stress that their stance does not affect anyone’s rights and say they will closely monitor the executive, activating the legal and administrative mechanisms in the new diploma if the law is broken.
