Politics

Like any other country in the world, Portugal has its political leaders and movements. Democracy has been around since 1974 and we have learned to cherish it, to appreciate the complexity of the ideals and to understand the differences between the several parties.

Though it may seem simple, since Portugal is a relatively calm country with a stable political system, portuguese politics are not for amateurs. It's a jungle full of wild beasts willing to devoure whoever tries to enter without proper training.

 

The president and the prime-minister:

 

The first portuguese president not to come out of leftwing parties since 1974, Aníbal Cavaco Silva is hardly a newcomer to the brave new world of portuguese politics. One of the mentors of PSD (the social-democrat party), between 1985 and 1995 he served as prime-minister, guiding the country through a period of change that saw highways being built with the occasional european funds that corrupt people didn't manage to pocket. This abundance of foreign cash flowing into Portugal gave him a reputation for being a financial genius and for knowing the secret recipe for turning long bankrupt former world powers into prosperous and modern european states. And, of course, even if few people know this fact, he is entirely made of wood.

 

First he claimed to be the most African of all candidates (because his wife was born in Guinea-Bissau), then he started claiming he could sing and giving us frequent performances whenever a tune was heard (from the national anthem to elevator music). Now Pedro Passos Coelho claims to be able to extract Portugal from the deep hole in which his predecessors have buried it over decades. He also hopes, with some luck, to be able to grow a pair of lips in the process.

 

Political parties:

PARTIDO SOCIAL DEMOCRATA (Social-Democrat Party)-The political force currently in office. It has been dividing with PS the main role in portuguese politics for the last decades. There really isn't that much of a difference between the ideals of the two movements. Actually, they're virtually the same but if you ask someone from either party, they will deny it and try to make some distinctive factors up. Basically, both of their politics are based in criticizing whatever the previous party in office did. It's quite sad...

 

PARTIDO SOCIALISTA (Socialist Party)-They stopped being socialists a couple of years ago and replaced their old symbol (a raised fist) by a red rose. More recently, the rose became pink. No one seems to care about the possible gay conotations. Especially since some of the leading names of the party were involved in a child abuse scandal. Being gay still beats the hell out of being a pedophile.

 

 

CENTRO DEMOCRÁTICO SOCIAL/PARTIDO POPULAR (Democratic Social Center/People's Party)-The most uptight and rightwing of all portuguese political movements, they try desperately to look conservative while facing rumours that their leader is gay.

 

 

PARTIDO COMUNISTA PORTUGUÊS (Portuguese Communist Party)- The oldest party in Portugal, they have been around since the 20's and are still alive and kicking. People affiliated with PCP have something that you won't find easily in portuguese politics: coherence. In fact, the communists will say the exact same thing now as they did 30 years ago. Maybe that's more a handicap than an advantage. They normally run in coalition with the ecologist party "Os Verdes."

 

BLOCO DE ESQUERDA (Leftwing Block)-Some of the people in Bloco really are gay and they couldn't be more open about it. It's a coalition of small leftwing parties which joined forces a couple of years ago and managed to get two candidates elected to parliament. They are really popular among young people and one of their leaders is the brother of the presidente of CDS/PP (see above). Go figure...

 

PARTIDO ECOLOGISTA "OS VERDES" ("The Greens" Ecologist Party)-Always hidden behind PCP, this isn't really a political party, just a group of people who do politics as a hobby. Some also do sports.

 

 

BENFICA, SPORTING and PORTO-To the left you can see the logos of the three most important political movements in Portugal. To some, these would look like plain football club logos but that is not correct. Of course, they are also football clubs, but if there are institutions for which the portuguese would risk their physical integrity, it would be one of these. Forget political parties. If football clubs could run for elections there wouldn't be a parliament seat left for "real" politicians.