“No other European empire has faced challenges, like Portugal, in last 50 years
President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argued today that nothing in contemporary history compares to April 25, 1974. In a speech in which he recalled the protagonists of Portuguese democracy over the last five decades, Portugal’s head of State stressed no other European nation has been through what Portugal has faced in the last 50 years.
In his speech at the traditional ‘solemn session’ in parliament, which lasted almost half an hour, Marcelo mentioned Ramalho Eanes, Mário Soares, Francisco Sá Carneiro, Álvaro Cunhal, Freitas do Amaral and Cavaco Silva, among others, as he spoke about the background to the Carnation Revolution and the stabilisation of the democratic regime.
Each name evoked distinct applause, writes Lusa: “sometimes from the right and sometimes from the left, in the Sala das Sessões, where former heads of State António Ramalho Eanes and Aníbal Cavaco Silva were present in one of the galleries”.
“Many, many others like them have fought and often won. And others fought and lost, a little or a lot. And some became disillusioned on April 25, others on September 28, others on March 11, others in the hot summer, others on the crucial November 25, which ended up defining the outcome of the revolution,’ and still “others over the last 50 years,” said the president, insisting that November 25, 1975 “just like the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution, was always intended to be part of the April celebrations, which will only end in 2026.
“This is how history is made and remade, often more from the lows than the highs,’ he added.
The President then asked: “And do these ups and downs compare with any other political, military or social movement in our contemporary history, in the history of our older European partners or our more recent European partners?
“No, there is no comparison. April 25 meant at the same time the end of a five-century empire, the end of a five-decade dictatorship, economic and political integration in what is now the European Union and four changes of economic regime”.
According to Marcelo, “no other revolution or military coup has been comparable” in contemporary history, because “no other modern European empire has faced all these challenges at the same time in less than 30 or 40 years.
“None of our Eastern partners have had extra-European empires or experienced decolonisation, democratisation, European integration and four changes of economic regime like we have. That’s why it’s unfair to compare the incomparable,’ he argued.
Speeches by the various party leaders were predictable in that the far left and further right made a point of criticising Portugal’s head of State (for what they believe he should have said/ should not have said), while PS Socialists (represented by the party’s parliamentary leader Alexandra Leitão) were more measured, agreeing with Marcelo’s conclusion that politicians need the humility and intelligence to “always prefer democracy, even when it is imperfect, over dictatorship”.
Source: LUSA
