During a press conference at the Association’s headquarters in Lisbon, Vasco Lourenço accused the government of unilaterally and arbitrarily deciding not to fulfill its officially assumed commitment to install the 25th of April Interpretative Center at the current premises of the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) in Praça do Comércio, Lisbon.
Vasco Lourenço stated that the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, recently informed the association that “for unspecified security reasons,” the MAI will no longer leave its current premises.
The government intends, according to the association, to use the western area of Praça do Comércio for “installing cultural services” after the Ministry of Agriculture moves from this location to ‘Campus XXI’ (Av. João XXI, Lisbon), scheduled for 2027.
The association was informed that a “viable option” for the government is to allocate part of these facilities to this interpretative center, a solution that can only be evaluated after the municipal elections in October, due to the involvement of the Lisbon Municipal Council in the matter. The possibility of installing this center elsewhere in the country is also being studied.
The colonel recalled that in January 2024, still under António Costa’s government, an agreement was signed to establish the center at the MAI, and in July of the previous year, under a government led by Luís Montenegro, the Prime Minister stated that “the allocated funds were earmarked and reserved for this purpose, and the process was proceeding as planned.”
“The tangible fact is that neither the funds were ever transferred, nor did the essential release of space advance,” he noted.
Vasco Lourenço accused the government of “dragging its feet,” resulting in the state becoming an “unreliable” and “untrustworthy” entity by failing to honor its commitments.
“I don’t know how to live in such a country, where the main leaders do not fulfill the commitments they make,” he criticized.
The colonel also criticized the government for unexpectedly creating a commission to mark the 50 years of the November 25, 1975, military operation “without consulting anyone,” thereby ignoring all previously assumed commitments, including the roles of the National Commission and the Executive Commission dedicated to the 50 years of the April 25, 1974, events.
Emphasizing that the official program for the commemoration of the carnation revolution’s 50th anniversary already included marking November 25, Vasco Lourenço described the creation of a new commission as “a farce” and accused the PSD/CDS-PP government of attempting to distort the country’s history.
“I’m not saying they’re ignorant of history. I’m saying they want to distort it. If they’re ignorant, they shouldn’t be in government. Individuals of this kind, with such ignorance, should not be in government,” he criticized.
Vasco Lourenço pointed out that the Council of Ministers’ resolution on September 8 stated that November 25 allowed the first “free and democratic elections in Portugal, by direct and universal suffrage,” on April 25, 1976, omitting the electoral process for the Constituent Assembly held the previous year.
The phrase was subsequently corrected by the government, clarifying that it referred to the first “legislative” free elections. The April 25 Association justified this oversight as the November 25 commemoration aims to overtly ignore historical truth and any significance of freedom, political parties, democracy, and war cessation, which is the essence of April 25.
Terming the government’s attitude as “unfathomable and incomprehensible,” Vasco Lourenço noted, “They do not want April 25, they hate April 25.”
The colonel also challenged candidates in municipal and presidential elections to speak about the issue.
