PS, BE, PCP, Livre, and PAN criticized the PSD/CDS executive during the traditional popular parade on Avenida da Liberdade in Lisbon. The IL was the only party that downplayed the controversy after the government declared national mourning from Thursday to Saturday for the passing of Pope Francisco, canceling festivities related to the Carnation Revolution.
“Anyone who comes every year knows it’s always like this. Thousands and thousands of people enjoy celebrating April and what April 25 means: freedom, democracy, but also the National Health Service and Public School. This is a day of celebration for the Portuguese people, and unfortunately, we have a government that watches from the sidelines,” criticized PS Secretary-General Pedro Nuno Santos.
However, according to the PS leader, this government led by Luís Montenegro “will remain in power only until May 18.”
“We are absolutely convinced that we will win these elections and that there will be a change, a safe change, because we have a government that is not trustworthy,” he stated.
Pedro Nuno Santos believes “this government is very distant from the feelings of the Portuguese people” and “made a wrong assessment, taking a decision that was rejected by the people” because “the Portuguese value what April 25 stands for.”
BE coordinator Mariana Mortágua described the demonstration on Avenida da Liberdade as “a great lesson for the Prime Minister and the Government, who think they can postpone the April 25 celebrations as if democracy could wait for a more convenient moment for the Government to celebrate.”
“Democracy does not wait, the people do not wait, and this is proof of that,” she insisted.
Considering April 25 as “magical and wonderful,” Mortágua warned that “it will not protect us forever” and thanked “those who made it happen.”
“They gave us 50 years of freedom, 50 years to fight and prevent the return of racism and authoritarianism. But it won’t last forever, and we will have to fight for it, fight with it forever for freedom,” she cautioned, urging voters to bring to the polls “the energy, the vibration, the joy, and the burning desire for freedom” felt on the streets.
From PCP, Secretary-General Paulo Raimundo stressed that the parade is not “a party” but a celebration of “a great Revolution” that “ended fascism.”
“Parties can be postponed, celebrations are not postponed. Perhaps the best response to this joke the Government decided to play is what is happening here,” he said.
Asked if this parade has its sights set on the May legislative election campaign, Raimundo dismissed the idea, stating that it is a celebration “focused on April, on the hope it opened.”
Rui Tavares, spokesperson for Livre, described April 25 as “a kind of Freedom Christmas” and said the Government “should take from this parade the lesson that it should participate in the joy of the people when the people celebrate freedom.”
“The Government should be grateful because today we are not only celebrating April 25, 1974, we are also celebrating 1975, the first free and universal vote (…). That was for the first time 50 years ago, and it is that vote that gives legitimacy to Governments. A Government that doesn’t understand this is ungrateful and doesn’t understand where its legitimacy comes from,” he accused.
Inês Sousa Real of PAN lamented that “someone did not want the April 25 celebrations,” but “the people once again took to the streets.”
“We cannot forget the utility that April 25 still has in the face of threats to democracy,” she argued.
To the right, IL leader Rui Rocha was the only one who considered it was merely “a communication problem of the Government.”
“The Government decided to limit this celebration to itself; I also have no memory of major celebrations by the Government itself. The big celebrations are those that take place at the Assembly of the Republic, those that happen on Avenida da Liberdade, and those that happen a bit throughout the country, organized spontaneously by the Portuguese who celebrate their day of freedom. Thus, nothing can prevent that, and to be fair, it does not seem that this was the Government’s intention in this matter,” he downplayed.
