The
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa enjoys a popularity never seen in the
post-25th of April. His frenetic style and constant personal contact with the
population bewitches the media in such a way that with rare exceptions can
criticism be seen among journalists.
His
past as a political commentator favors him, but obviously that's not enough. He
has friendly personality and seems to have solid opinion on all matters. It
reminds us that friend that we like to sit at a coffee table and listen to him
lecturing about world affairs for hours. Recently he gave an interview to a
radio, once again proved to be a well-prepared person to talk about national
political issues. Thus, at a first glance, Marcelo seems to be fit for the
position he assumes.
However,
there is also the more perverse side of our President. On several occasions he
was accused of taking advantage of certain situations and exchange barbs at his
opponents. Political loyalty was not always associated with Marcelo. Their
opinions sometimes also seem to vary according to the most populist trends.
That
said, it is also worth noting that despite its oral eloquence, it is
characterized by a panoply of trivialities that adds nothing to accomplish
solutions for the country. He justifies current national policies, probably
better than the government itself, but he doesn’t know how to take advantage of
his popularity and make the President’s role more relevant presenting
solutions.
Public
investment in Portugal has reached the lowest levels since 1960, and although
it is not admitted by the current government, austerity remains at such a level
that if it were a right-wing government we would certainly have hysterical population
and trade union demonstrations. Marcelo is an accomplice to this policy, for
the sake of our oligarchy. Nevertheless, our economy is at a standstill. More
than taking selfies with citizens, or saying that Portugal has to solve the beggars problem, the President has to come up
with solutions. It has the responsibility to make clear that Portugal must
follow a path which moves towards economic liberalism, present reformist
solutions in social policies and establish a desruption with the political
system.
Miguel Verde - Senior
Consultant, Professor of International Relations
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