Portugal’s President, in a superb display of doing what presidents should do, has laid it on the line for the current prime minister, António Costa, whose future now looks shakier than at any point during his leadership.
Appalled that he alone is visiting and hugging survivors of the latest deadly fires, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has insisted that the government apologises for letting down the public by failing to undertake the number one obligation of any government, to protect its citizens and if it can not do this, he will dissolve parliament.
The president has said 'enough is enough' with the insincere political hand-wringing that accompanies each disaster caused by forest fires. It is time to change the whole forestry and firefighting system, strip out useless ‘jobs for the boys’ appointments, remove the Minister for Internal Affairs, Constança da Sousa, sort out many clearly dangerous forests and if there is no budget, find one.
Rebelo de Sousa was in fighting form as he addressed the nation last night and has broken through the veil of carefully chosen political words being employed until now by the government which has talked of the recent tragedy and promises to ‘reinforce measures’ in the ‘medium-term’ while limply blaming past administrations for the July 17th fire at Pedrógão Grande that killed 65 and last weekend’s infernos that managed to send a further 41 citizens to early graves.
The motion of censure proposed by CDS leader Asunção Cristas, albeit a motion that is astoundingly barefaced as she was the minister that opened up widespread eucalyptus planting on an even wider scale, must be taken seriously by Costa if he wishes to remain in power.
Rebelo de Sousa, his political instincts tempered by good sense and humanity, has challenged the left wing parties currently supporting the socialist government that if they vote to keep Costa in power, they also are voting for fundamental changes in the system, or ‘the cycle’ as he calls it, in a speech that today is on every news service in the country.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s challenge is simple, the Left Bloc and Communist parties must state, in black or white - yes or no - if they still support the executive led by António Costa.
One really good start for António Costa would be to take a deep breath and actually apologise to the nation.
Costa’s ‘human touch’ has been reported on extensively during his tenure but his failure to say sorry for the State's inept responses to the two big periods of fire this year has switched his image from a friendly, avuncular, trustworthy figure to one of insincerity
“...refusing to apologise to the Portuguese is to not recognise anything of the tragedy that has happened in the country,” said the president in a clear challenge to Costa’s current strategy of blaming everything on acts of God and the former PM, Pedro Passos Coelho.
As for the fate of Minister Constança Urbano de Sousa, whose job already looked shaky, the president demanded that a ‘new cycle’ is started, i.e. a new way of doing things around here, which “inevitably will force the government to consider [...] who, how and when this cycle is best served," while demanding that "the government take all the consequences of the tragedy."
The President of the Republic also made a point of trashing the government's plan to keep things gently ticking over until its mysterious ‘reforms’ are completed in the conveniently vague ‘long-term’ as this means that further tragedies can happen in the meantime, eliciting the same platitudes and evasions while more citizens die in fear and agony.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa knows his role as president and correctly states that it is up to parliament to decide on the life of the government,
"If in the Assembly of the Republic there are those who question the capacity of the current government to make these changes that are indispensable and unavoidable, then, under the terms of the Constitution, we hope that the same Assembly will clarify whether or not to keep the government in office," he said, adding that in the more-than-likely case the executive remains in office, surviving the motion, then it will have to fill most "essential condition to strengthen the mandate for urgent reforms."
The president said this really is the last opportunity to make the forest a "national priority".
"It is time to rebuild, to start a new path, to believe in the future, the basis of change in relation to the past," he insisted, saying that if there are budgetary constraints, "forest and fire prevention should be given priority, this is the last opportunity to take action on this issue. If there are budgetary constraints, give priority to the forest and fire prevention."
The president has made this a personal challenge. Clearly affected by meeting victims’ families he said he sees the achievement of reforms, as outlined in the two reports so far submitted on the Pedrógão Grande fire, as a test of his own mandate,
"For me as President of the Republic, to change this area is one of the decisive tests to fulfill the mandate I have assumed, and I will fully commit myself to it until the end of this mandate."
The Council of Ministers meets this coming Saturday.
If ground-breaking changes are not announced after this key and extraordinary meeting, including an end to the fire-dependent contracts with private sector suppliers, the cleaning or forests and creation of fire breaks, the televised evisceration of arsonists, the reinstallation of fire-watch personnel, the use of the Armed Forces, and the prosecution of those who for years have illegally benefitted from summer blazes, Costa’s administration will be in big trouble come next Tuesday's vote on the censure motion which needs just nine rebels to topple the government.
Comments
Perhaps you would settle for convicted arsonists being incarcerated while ever there is risk of forest fire? Say for six months every summer over 20 years?
Which fascist dictatorship have you lived under?
What was your experience ?
If you answered "none" to the above, then you have to concede to the fact that you have no genuine experience of fascism except what you have read in a text book.
On the other hand, the older generation of Portuguese Citizens have lived through these terrible times and their dreams came through on the 25th April 1974.
I would suggest that you read about the Carnation Revolution and stop listening to people who have cotton wool where their brains should be.
And as for corruption, name one country in the Western world that does not have corrupt politicians, just one.
But the Portuguese still pretend that Portugal had a Revolution in 1974. A uniquely Portuguese one that changed nothing of substance. Leaving the highest strata of important elite still directly or indirectly in place. The UnEquals. Hence the endemic corruption and denial of equal opportunity that continues unchecked into a 3rd generation.
How can serious change begin to happen in Portugal if there is still so much fear of standing up and being counted .... by your local elite?
Yes, it can always get worse. See Trump, May, Rajoy, Kurtz...
Surely not real affirmative action, they are politicians after all, where would you like them to start, the corruption surrounding the Kamov helicopters, the corruption and over charging for hired in fire-fighting services, the incompetence and probably corruption regarding the inefficiency of the totally useless communications system,etc,etc,etc.
The governments and politicians, not only in Portugal, the U.K is also a prime example, appoint totally lacking in real world experience, unqualified, career politicians, you know the drill "quid pro quo" for past favours, into positions where they have no idea what's going on, they are then totally dependant on a civil service that only operates for its own benefit and runs rings around the politicians knowing full well that they are only there on a purely temporary basis, maybe a couple of years but probably a lot less, one incompetent moron will be moved sideways and another incompetent moron will replace him, that is, until the next political disaster and another face saving shake-up, ad infinitum.
There is a very limited pool of real talent in any political party and party loyalty gets you promoted faster than real talent any day, politics and the bureaucracy that goes with it is a sinecure for a lot of not very talented people (unless you take into account the talent for undeserved self enrichment), they can talk the talk but can't walk the walk, it has always been that way and will ever remain so.
place your bets please