Portugal’s political parties in opposition have reacted quickly to the words today from the president about Sunday’s ‘baton charge’ by police on demonstrators in Lisbon – and none of them appear to share his keenness for the dialogue he says is missing in trying to fix the country’s house crisis.
The Left Bloc (BE) accused the president of being”abstract and vague” regarding the protests; the Communist Party (PCP) said they refuse to reach agreements with parties that want to “further increase rents”; and LIVRE claims it is the government that is undermining consensus.
On the sidelines of the Common Front trade union plenary session, held outside parliament this afternoon, journalists questioned the leaders of these three left-wing parties about the president’s statements.
BE’s sole MP, Fabian Figueiredo, stressed: “The (police) intervention was illegal, it was disproportionate, it did not comply with any legal criteria, and the government is to blame. Therefore, when the president speaks in vague terms, what this unfortunately demonstrates is that he defends constitutional principles in an abstract and vague manner.”.
Arguing that he and others in the second round of the presidential election voted for “António José Seguro to defend the Constitution”, the BE leader maintained that what is “needed now is the resolve of all democrats.
“When it comes to defending the democratic rule of law, one cannot sit on the fence,» he argued, while also criticising the silence and absence of the prime minister, Luís Montenegro.
Speaking on behalf of LIVRE, its spokesperson and parliamentary leader, Isabel Mendes Lopes, considered that the president’s statement was “somewhat cautious” on an issue where “the country needs to be addressed immediately.
“We are talking about police violence that strikes me as completely unjustifiable, and therefore all political leaders must take a stand, particularly the president, and it is important that he takes a stand as soon as events unfold, because the country also expects this of him,” she said.
As for the call for dialogue on responses to the housing crisis, Isabel Mendes Lopes said this happens every day in parliament, but the government has shown “such high-handedness and arrogance as to refuse to listen to the proposals on the table put forward by the various parties.
“Therefore, it is clearly a government that is not seeking broad consensus in parliament or in society. I believe the president’s call for this dialogue is clearly directed at Luís Montenegro,» she added.
In Mendes Lopes’ view, the government has failed because “it is unable to respond to the public’s outrage and their more than justified demands regarding this extremely serious crisis affecting so many people, namely the housing problem”.
Speaking on behalf of the PCP, parliamentary leader Paula Santos emphasised the “very important role” played by the President of the Republic “in ensuring compliance with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic”.
“The Constitution establishes the right to protest and also the right to housing; therefore, the freedom and right to protest is a constitutional right that must be said to exist, and what is happening at the moment is a restrictive interpretation of the law to curtail the right to protest, which we consider unacceptable,” she condemned.
The government must “assume its responsibilities” and, urgently “withdraw the [urban tenancy] bill from parliament, as it will only serve to exacerbate the problem further.
“It is impossible to reach agreements with parties and political forces such as the PSD and the CDS, which have the support of IL (Iniciativa Liberal) and CHEGA, because what they want is to increase rents even further, and with this law they are effectively driving people out of their homes. This is unacceptable,” she added.
Paula Santos accused Luís Montenegro of failing to fulfil “his responsibilities”, saying he was responsible for “making the situation worse”.
CHEGA leader André Ventura was also critical of the president’s words, suggesting that not only was Seguro ‘vague’, but he didn’t have any praise for the police (which Ventura believes he should have done).
All in all, the immediate reactions show just how difficult it will be for President Seguro to get bristling parliamentary parties to knuckle down and work together, which he seems to think is the best way forwards.
Source: LUSA