Portugal
Interview with Mariana Mortágua
Early legislative elections will be held in Portugal next March 10th. The President of the Republic dismissed the government on December 7th and dissolved Parliament on January 15th, bringing an end to a Socialist Party government with an absolute majority elected on January 30th, 2022. The outgoing government was unable to resolve the population’s main difficulties - the housing crisis and bankruptcy for several public services, specifically health and education. This, together with several court ...
read more "“Choosing people’s lives over profits and high rents”"
read more "“Choosing people’s lives over profits and high rents”"
A conversation with former Bloco de Esquerda MP Beatriz Gomes DiasWith less than nine months to go before the 2024 European elections, democratic socialist parties across the continent are gearing up for campaign season. Conditions for the Left vary across Europe, with some parties poised to maintain or build on previous results, while other parties are struggling to keep their heads above water — to say nothing of the EU member-states where the Left has no parliamentary representation whatsoever.
Two countries where the Left has faced recent setbacks ...
read more "In Portugal, the Left Is Rebuilding"
read more "In Portugal, the Left Is Rebuilding"
On 27 and 28 May, the Bloco de Esquerda (the Left Bloc) held its 13th National Convention in Lisbon. The meeting discussed the party's strategy for the next two years and reaffirmed the commitments made in the approved political agenda. The motion, led by Mariana Mortágua, who took on the national coordination of the party, obtained 439 votes in favour, with 78 votes opposed. The delegates attending the Convention also elected a board of 80 members, with absolute parity. It is worth noting the large participation of young people at...
read more "The Portuguese Left chooses Mariana Mortàgua as new leader"
read more "The Portuguese Left chooses Mariana Mortàgua as new leader"
Antonio Costa’s surprise absolute majority gives free rein to the Socialist Party (PS) and forces the leftwing parties into opposition.
The Left Bloc and the Portuguese Communist Party won 9 percent of the vote after losing 350,000 votes.
Tactical voting in response to the rise of the far right, which won 12 seats on 7 percent of the vote, or blame for the early election could help explain the shift in the vote from the leftwing parties to the social democrats.
The liberals, who won over young voters in Porto and Lisbon, advocate privatisation and a ...
read more "Portugal’s leftwing on the wane"
read more "Portugal’s leftwing on the wane"
The threat of a new election in the absence of an agreement on the budget hovered over the negotiations from the start, although there is no constitutional obligation to dissolve Parliament if the budget is not approved.
Socialist Prime Minister António Costa is calling an election in an attempt to secure an absolute majority by adopting French President Emmanuel Macron's strategy of pursuing centrist policies that will squeeze the left out of positions of ...
read more "Portugal’s parliamentary election can be traced back to the Socialists’ refusal to make a pact with left-wing forces"
read more "Portugal’s parliamentary election can be traced back to the Socialists’ refusal to make a pact with left-wing forces"
Left-wing Bloco de Esquerda lost nearly every representative it had and failed to challenge for a single presidency.
Marxist-Leninist Partido Comunista Português against lost historical strongholds to centre-left Partido Socialista, stuck to a steady decline
Far-right Chega ran nationwide but didn’t put uf a fight for any presidencies and elected just 19 representatives.
As the two major power-players in Portuguese politics struggled for the vast majority of municipal chambers ...
read more "In the Portuguese local elections, an easy win for the center over a split left and a fragile far-right"
read more "In the Portuguese local elections, an easy win for the center over a split left and a fragile far-right"
Francisco Louçã, Activist at Bloco de Esquerda, talks about the confinement in Portugal.
For the coming weeks, RLS Brussels Office will publish clips from colleagues, comrades, and friends from Europe and beyond giving personal impressions of the crisis, the measures, living and coping. David Pontes, Deputy Director at Publico Portugal, shares his impressions about the situation in Portugal.