Everything changed. It was inevitable. Since the famous Decree Laws 353/73 and 409/73, “detonators” of April 25 by Sá Viana Rebelo, Minister of the Army, “trying to address the shortage of captains in the permanent staff”, to the “slow but progressive” “revisionist” period that followed between 1985 and 1995 (“that freedom and democracy were obtained in spite of April 25, and not thanks to this revolution”, as revealed for example by Luciana de Castro Soutelo, Manuel Loff and others) , to the permanent cleavage, since then between left and right on November 25to date, after 49 years, in which more than half of the Portuguese population was born after April 25 or a few years before [a fatia dos que podem ter memória política vivida da Revolução é pertença de quase dois milhões e meio de portugueses] , the change is overwhelming in all domains.
Overwhelming, but”we are still immersed in gray days when we were promised the light” [a frase é da bastonária dos enfermeiros, Ana Rita Cavaco] and for keeping a promise from April: “Confidence in a more prosperous and inclusive future for the country”, as requested by Ambassador António Monteiro.
“dismay”, “inequality”, “lying politicians”, “corruption”, “meaningless rhetoric”, “populism”, “bourgeois apathy” – or as Mota Amaral says: “a certain frustration with the accumulation of problems” that needs “effective convergence at the center of the major political parties”, “sharing of executive power, giving rise to a thoroughly renewed government” – cross almost all the testimonials of the 49 personalities heard by DN.
The former President of the Assembly of the Republic and former President of the Regional Government of the Azores – who advocates a “agreement on the necessary reforms”, between PS and PSDand a government for two with “able people, recruited outside the confines of the political party, motivated by the ideal of service and the objective of removing Portugal from the tail of Europe as soon as possible”- Don’t hesitate to consider that “all this can be achieved without resorting to early elections”, but, and unlike Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa who says that “if it must be done, it must be as late as possible”, Mota Amaral defends that “if it is necessary is to do it, one should not hesitate”. And the explanation is simple: “We need to pick up the pace (…) status quo it is very negative for the credibility and stability of our democratic institutions and paves the way for extremism.”
Mota Amaral’s arguments find support in the fact that the country has grown an average of no more than 1% per year for ten years – 0.5% if the calculations are made over the last two decades -; the fact that 30% of the population is poor; in the fact that more than half of the Portuguese receive less than a thousand euros a month; in the fact that the tax burden has been at consecutive records for three years and is now at 36.4% – the real rate, including social benefits, and paid in Brussels is 38.2%; and in the fact thatpublic investment is among the lowest in the eurozone: last year it amounted to less than 6 billion.
Eurico Brilhante Dias, leader of the PS, has a different vision and “absolute confidence” than a year from now “the salary [no setor privado] will follow the movement made in public administration – with reinforcement of the increase to absorb inflation – and in the minimum wage” through the “income agreement signed between the government and the social partners”.
But more. He praises “the policy of the PS government” which increased the average salary, “according to INE, from 1099.12 euros in 2015 to 1366.21 euros in 2022 (+24%)” and the minimum wage rises “40%, from 505 euros in 2015 to 706 euros in 2022”.
Of all 49 personalities, Eurico Brilhante Dias is an “oasis” [conceito que Braga de Macedo, ministro das Finanças de Cavaco, em setembro de 1992, usou quando quase todos, na altura, viam um deserto olhando o que era o cenário político e económico] in “absolute confidence”.
Alberto Martins, one of the men in the “academic crisis of 1969” – which cost him his prison sentence – former Minister of Justice (with José Sócrates) and former Minister of State Reform and Public Administration (with António Guterres), says that “In the face of the growing apathy of citizens, the crisis of representativeness and trust in democratic institutions, there is a challenge to be overcome: the urgency of political action and the opening of the participatory space to conquer, especially the new generations. Because there is no democracy without citizens, or standard”.
Edite Estrela, Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic, for example, who believes that “we live in very demanding and dangerous times, with recurrent attacks on the democratic regime, repeated on social networks”, states as “urgent challenges to fight populism and disinformation, reduce poverty and inequality, defend and improve democracy”.
While the socialist parliamentary leader believes that “this wage increase [médio e mínimo] it is essential for the most qualified generation ever to feel motivated to stay in Portugal and not be forced to emigrate, as happened when the right wing was in government”, Jorge Bacelar Gouveia, law professor, lawyer and jurist warns against the “cyclopic” task of “our representatives”: “To show that April 25 was worthwhile and that Portugal will not remain a country in the tail end of Europe, from which the new generations will “flee” for a better life, and whose democracy has become a sickening quagmire of lies, schemes, arrivals and facilitations.”
“Having a government that runs the country instead of running itself”, sums up Manuel Falcao [um dos fundadores da Notícias de Portugal [a atual Lusa]journalist founder of Independente and Blitz, director of Se7e and RTP 2, who worked at Expresso and Visão and radios, among others]or as Jaime Nogueira Pinto refers: “The current reality clearly shows what will be felt in the half-century of the “Long Day of Democracy”, longer than the “Long Fascist Night” that preceded it: the ruling of Centrão, the politicians who lie, the taxes to rise, public services to languish, the people to become impoverished, the divisive laws to pass to candonga, the mental need to spread”.
A scenario that for Ana Rita Cavaco, president of the Order of Nurses, is still a way of life for the Portuguese “trapped in the culture of silence, of “respect is very beautiful”, which is reflected, namely “in public structures” as in the past: “Authority is exercised many times, as before April”.
From Joaquim Furtado, journalist, the man and voice who read the Armed Forces Movement’s first communiqué on Rádio Clube Português on April 25, comes a warning: “Democracy is not partiality. Neither is populism. Development is not inequality.”
For a “freer country”, “better democracy” and “more development”, “less poverty”, a “more effective” fight against corruption and “better wages” are needed in a “growing” country. Is a year enough? “Maybe it’s too much to ask. But celebrating April is investing in ambitionexhorts Marques Mendes, former PSD leader.
“This is a fascinating task for the new generations – for this year that will lead us to April 2024 – to fight for a better life, for April, even if they don’t call it that (…) April”says the former secretary general of the PCP, for whom it is imperative to realize “the April project and values”.
In a sentence: “The main thing is not to take democracy for granted: we must always be alert to anything that could threaten it.”, sums up Amílcar Falcão, rector of the University of Coimbra.
Source: DN
