Portugal’s Communist Party leader, Jerónimo de Sousa, was in Vila Real de Santo António on Saturday to give a speech that demanded an end to "the campaign of lies and slander" of the previous government's two coalition parties.
Reserving his full ire for the President of the Republic, the Communist leader attacked the way Cavaco Silva had handled the recent political impasse which had demonstrated his partiality for the existing rightwing alliance.
Jerónimo de Sousa, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Portugal, accused the President of acting as a militant for the Social democrats ever since the general election on October 4th.
Jerónimo de Sousa said that it is time that the coalition PSD and CDS-PP "recognise their defeat and the harmful consequences of their policies," which can now be reversed by the new Socialist government headed by António Costa with the support of the left parties, including his own Communist Party which has dedicated much of the past 40 years to open warfare with the Socialists.
His unequivocal support of Costa in the role as Prime Minister will be warmly received by the Socialists whose ability to harness the new power of the far left already has been called into question.
The Portuguese people “created the conditions to put an end to the disastrous PSD/CDS coalition government and its policy of exploitation and impoverishment conducted over the last four years," said Jerónimo de Sousa, adding that “the country has gone through four black years of PSD/CDS government" with the two coalition parties "representing big business and the most retrograde forces of Portuguese society" and wanting to prolong and “perpetuate their government with the connivance of the President."
The leader of the PCP has concluded that Cavaco Silva expressed his “manifest displeasure towards a solution that until the last moment he tried to derail," when finally appointing António Costa.
"In fact, Cavaco Silva throughout this process chose to do everything to turn a democratic election into a political crisis and a framework for confrontation,” he added, suggesting that the coalition parties "recognise their defeat and the harmful consequences of their policy and stop the campaign of lies and slander."
Jerónimo de Sousa said the Socialist-led government now has the opportunity to reverse the policies of the right wing by embracing the parliamentary support of the Communists and the other left-wing parties.
Jerónimo de Sousa caused concern when he refused to sign the memorandum agreeing with the President’s list of six conditions that demanded the left wing parties adhere to should he choose a Socialist government.
Despite this refusal, Cavaco Silva appointed António Costa as Portugal’s Prime Minister so the Communist leader’s support at this early stage is a relief to both Costa and Portugal’s overseas lenders to whom the word 'Communist' smacks of Chairman Mao rather than a pro-workers rights movement whose policies often are remarkably avant-garde.
