{"id":21577,"date":"2025-04-23T14:44:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uit-ci.org\/?p=21577"},"modified":"2025-04-23T14:44:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:44:30","slug":"snap-elections-a-broken-record-playing-the-same-tune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/snap-elections-a-broken-record-playing-the-same-tune\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Snap Elections: A broken record playing the same tune"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/u><\/b>By United Workers<\/strong> (TU), IWU-FI section in Portugal<\/i><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/i>Another political crisis, another trip to the polls. For the third time in three years, Portugal is going back to parliamentary elections – and everything points to the results being the same as always: a new version of the same disaster. Whether with Montenegro or Pedro Nuno Santos, with the support of the radical right or the institutional left, the regime’s policy is always the same: to benefit the millionaires at the expense of the majority.<\/div>\n

The fall of the\u00a0AD<\/i>\u00a0government (Democratic Alliance<\/i>\u00a0– the right wing coalition between the\u00a0Social Democratic Party<\/i>\u00a0‘PSD<\/i>‘, the\u00a0Democratic and Social Centre-People’s Party<\/i>\u00a0‘CDS-PP<\/i>‘, as well as the\u00a0People’s Monarchist Party<\/i>\u00a0‘PPM<\/i>‘) was not inevitable. It was a calculated move, in an attempt to avoid prolonged wear and tear, and to capitalise on some political leeway before the scenario at hand became even more unfavourable. Just as the\u00a0PS<\/i>\u00a0(Socialist Party<\/i>) did in 2022, the\u00a0PSD<\/i>\u00a0now prefers to throw the country into elections rather than face the slow rot of a government incapable of responding to the needs of the population. And so the vicious cycle of alternation between\u00a0PS<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0PSD<\/i>\u00a0continues, ever more exposed, ever more rotten, ever more useless for those who make a living from their work.
\nIn fact, since 2019, no government has managed to complete its term. We had early elections in 2022, again in 2024 and now in 2025. This constant cycle of dissolving the\u00a0parliament and snap elections is a reflection of the fatigue of a system that is no longer able to generate lasting consensus or ensure the \u2018stability\u2019 that the regime’s parties are so fond of. The difficulty in forming clear majorities, the failure of coalitions, and permanent parliamentary instability reveals a regime in decline – where the social and economic crisis is fuelling political disintegration.
\nAnt\u00f3nio Costa’s government, despite the absolute majority it achieved in 2022, fell after eight years in office, marked by rising housing prices, chaos in the\u00a0SNS<\/i>\u00a0(National Health Service<\/i>), and\u00a0worn down by strikes in essential sectors, such as health and education. His fall was precipitated by a corruption scandal, but the real problem was the accumulation of popular discontent in the face of a government that no longer represented anyone but the interests of those at the top.
\nMontenegro’s situation was different. Despite the fragile nature of his minority government, and the fact that difficulties were anticipated from the outset as to whether he would be able to see the term through to the end, the truth is that, after passing the first major test – the approval of the 2025 State Budget – a scenario of relative stabilisation began to emerge. The government was showing some resilience, with a slight recovery in its popularity and, in political terms, it seemed possible that it could hold out at least until the vote on the 2027 State Budget. His fall was therefore unexpected for many.
\nBut rather than an inevitable crisis or one imposed by circumstances, the fall of the\u00a0AD<\/i>\u00a0government was actually deliberate. Montenegro preferred to bring about early elections now, while he still had some political breath left, rather than drag his feet until he was consumed by a parliamentary committee of enquiry and new cases and controversies. On the\u00a0PS’s\u00a0<\/i>side, despite sharing with the\u00a0PSD<\/i>\u00a0the commitment to guarantee the stability needed for the bosses’ businesses to develop – ensuring that labour reforms, low wages, social containment and exploitation continued smoothly – it was becoming untenable to assert itself as an alternative, by continuing to serve as a political crutch for\u00a0AD<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0If the alternation between the\u00a0PS<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0PSD\u00a0<\/i>continues to be one of the regime’s main legitimising mechanisms, the illusion of difference between the two becomes increasingly difficult to sustain when one party spends its time enabling the government of the other. In this context, the call for elections is not just a reflection of a cyclical crisis, but the result of a political system that is increasingly incapable of ensuring its own stability. Against this backdrop, the May elections won’t solve anything.<\/div>\n

The\u00a0PSD<\/i>, led by Lu\u00eds Montenegro, has so far rejected any arrangement or agreements with\u00a0Chega\u00a0<\/i>(Enough! –\u00a0<\/i>the\u00a0<\/i>far-right party), maintaining its \u2018red line<\/i>\u2019 against the far right. However, the pressure to form a majority could put that line to the test – especially if Andr\u00e9 Ventura continues to condition the public debate and present himself as \u2018inevitable<\/i>\u2019 for a right-wing solution.
\nChega<\/i>, for its part, is playing a double game: it says that\u00a0the\u00a0PS<\/i>\u00a0and PSD are the same, whilst simultaneously begging the\u00a0PSD\u00a0<\/i>for a place in its government. The\u00a0Liberal Initiative\u00a0<\/i>(IL<\/i>), meanwhile, is trying to position itself as a stable and rational partner for the\u00a0PSD<\/i>. Their favorable vote in the confidence motion, in\u00a0support of the current government, shows a clear attempt to present itself as a \u2018governable\u2019 force, capable of contributing to a right-wing coalition.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0On the\u00a0PS<\/i>‘s side, Pedro Nuno Santos has been pushing for strategic voting, to avoid an\u00a0AD<\/i>\u00a0government, whilst at the same time, maintaining the possibility of \u00abdialogue with all progressive forces<\/i>\u00ab, which includes the\u00a0BE<\/i>\u00a0(Left Bloc<\/i>),\u00a0PCP\u00a0<\/i>(Portuguese Communist Party<\/i>)\u00a0and\u00a0Livre<\/i>\u00a0(Free<\/i>). The parliamentary left, for its part, is competing for the role of most relevant crutch, to pressure the\u00a0PS\u00a0<\/i>into being what it is not, and never will be. As usual, the\u00a0BE<\/i>\u00a0and the\u00a0PCP<\/i>\u00a0maintain that they will not enable liberal or right-wing governments, but they do not rule out agreements with the\u00a0PS<\/i>, and\u00a0Livre<\/i>, forthright, willingly and eagerly presents itself as a ready partner for a post-election agreement.<\/div>\n

In the midst of this fragmentation, the next government will most likely depend on unstable parliamentary agreements and coalitions, with constant blackmail by the far right of the\u00a0PSD<\/i>, or unforgivable concessions given to the\u00a0PS<\/i>\u00a0by the left. That’s why none of these solutions, that seek to give greater stability to a\u00a0PSD<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0PS<\/i>\u00a0government, represent a real alternative for workers and youth. For the majority of the population – workers, young people, pensioners, immigrants – any of these governments will mean more of the same: low wages, sky-high rents, precariousness, the degradation of public services and growing repression.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Early elections are not a sign of democratic vitality. They are a reflection of an exhausted rundown regime that can no longer hide its own failure. The permanent instability, the growing social crisis and the widespread despair shows that the regime that emerged from the 25th of November (the 1975 military coup and counter revolution, that restored military hierarchy, and put an end to the revolutionary process that had begun the year prior with the 25th of april revolution) is rotting – solely committed to economic interests, it is incapable of offering a way out for young people, for workers, for those who are being pushed out of the cities or out of the country.<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, the far right is growing, exploiting the frustration generated by decades of betrayals. But far from representing a solution,\u00a0Chega<\/i>\u00a0and the\u00a0Liberal Initiative<\/i>\u00a0want to apply even more violent versions of the same old programme: more exploitation, fewer rights, more repression. And the institutional left, incapable of breaking with this regime and defending a radical programme against the bosses’ governments, is still waiting to be granted the role of the\u00a0PS<\/i>‘s support force – even after everything it has done to the\u00a0SNS<\/i>, housing, labour rights and youth.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A party that lives for and with the Parliament is far from lacking. What’s truly needed is a real alternative, built on the basis of the struggles, with its feet on the streets, and a political project that confronts the interests of the elites head on; not to \u2018patch up\u2019 the regime, but to confront it. An alternative that doesn’t accept continuing to dance to the same broken record of alternating between the\u00a0PS<\/i>\u00a0and the\u00a0PSD<\/i>, nor allowing the far right to be the channel for social revolt. An alternative that clearly recognises that the problem is not just who governs – but the system at the service of those who govern.<\/div>\n

We need to build an alternative that points to a new project for the country, with the working class at the centre.\u00a0United Workers<\/i> is a tool for this project – a new party, made to fight, to organise and to win. Because it’s not enough to resist.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By United Workers (TU), IWU-FI section in Portugal \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Another political crisis, another trip to the polls. For the third time in three years, Portugal is going back to parliamentary elections – and everything points to the results being the same as always: a new version of the same disaster. Whether with Montenegro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21578,"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21577\/revisions\/21578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uit-ci.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}