José Manuel Moura, the national operational commander of the Civil Protection, will step down and will be replaced by Rui Esteves, the current district commander for Relief Operations of Castelo Branco, a source linked to the new appointment.
The same source said that Jose Manuel Moura, who took office as commander of the National Command of Relief Operations (CNOS) in December 2012, was informed of this decision on Tuesday.
The proposal to replace José Manuel Moura by Rui Esteves was made by the new president of the National Authority of Civil Protection, Joaquim Leitão, and accepted by the Ministry of Internal Administration, the same source said.
All district Relief Operations commanders were on duty when the current Government took office, which decided not to renew these commissions and leave the decision to the end of this year.
The same source also stressed that the replacement of José Manuel Moura is not related to the fire season this summer.