Various Socialist MPs ‘revolt’ against demolitions sanctioned by Socialist mayors
PS Socialists are turning on themselves following the brutal pictures and stories emerging from demolitions ordered by Loures City Council (Greater Lisbon).
Loures is run by a popular Socialist mayor, Ricardo Leão – and normally parties ‘stick together’.
Not today however: PS Socialists have been floundering since losing ground to CHEGA in the last elections. The optics coming out of Bairro do Talude this week will have done nothing for the party’s reputation as one that considers citizens first/ humanism/ social care.
Indeed, news outlets today report that many of the families who saw their handbuilt shacks demolished as police in riotgear held them back, are still living amongst the destruction. They have nowhere to go: they are not being offered alternative housing that they can afford, and so they have chosen to camp in the dereliction of their last refuge, Gaza-style. It is an image that no-one can sensibly relate to Lisbon, “a top notch tourism destination”.
And this is what is causing Socialists so much discomfort.
Yesterday, Helena Roseta, the former chief architect of Lisbon City Council when it was run by PS Socialists, dubbed the demolitions “violent” and “completely abusive”, suggesting they were also in “blatant violation” of the Housing Framework Law that she herself drafted.
Roseta’s bottom line as she poured out her outrage to Lusa was that she will be making an official complaint to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. She also warned of an Open Letter, that she said would appear, to back her complaint.
This has come today: entitled “On the demolition of principles and shacks”. It already has the signatures of over 100 prominent Socialists, including MPs and former MPs.
Says the text: “We watched with dismay as the roofs of dozens of families were demolished, authorised by Socialist Party mayors, without any prior protection for these families, forced into homelessness. We would like to express our profound indignation and concern. We are witnessing the end of the line—from the unsanitary and precarious conditions of a shack to the street”.
For these socialists, writes Lusa, demolishing shacks “without guaranteeing alternative, adequate and immediate housing solutions” goes against “constitutional and statutory principles” and “tarnishes the credibility and ethical commitment that the Socialist Party must make to its citizens.”
“We call for coherence: socialist politics begins with the people, never against them. We call for the mobilisation of the Socialist Party’s structures to reflect on these practices and consistently defend the values that define us. We want a Socialist Party that is truly an instrument of social transformation, justice, and solidarity—not just in words, but above all in actions,” the letter stresses.
PS Socialist leader José Luís Carneiro has lent his voice to the outrage, but he is also ‘fighting his corner’ with the government, appealing today for AD having to make a choice over with whom it wants to negotiate, bearing in mind the PS “can never be placed on the level” of CHEGA.
This in itself is a strange assertion, as PS Socialists have already been shown to be on a level below CHEGA, according to the electorate.
Mr Carneiro was referring more to the legal changes being proposed by AD social democrats on changes to laws regulating foreigners and nationality – subjects that are unlikely to be settled before the autumn.
Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
