The statement was released by the President of the Republic during the ceremony commemorating the 115th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic, held at Praça do Município in Lisbon. The ceremony was shorter this year, without the usual speeches by the head of state and the mayor, due to the ongoing campaign period for the local elections on October 12.
“The Republic and Democracy are very much alive in Portugal today, but to keep it that way, we must renew our commitment to their ideals and values, always paying attention to new challenges and the need to uphold those principles in political and constitutional practice,” says Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The President of the Republic believes that the history of the First Republic calls upon today’s leaders to build political parties where citizens feel represented, while also emphasizing civic participation, the importance of good public management, addressing poverty and social and regional inequalities, and continuing to invest in education as a factor of development.
In the message published on the Presidential website, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa begins by noting that the establishment of the Republic on October 5, 1910, “brought with it the hope—often unrealized—of more freedom, more equality, and more solidarity.”
“It was with the First Republic that Portugal gained a set of values that remain relevant today: the primacy of the common interest over individual interest, the importance of citizen participation, and the enshrinement of fundamental freedoms and rights, later incorporated into the Constitution of 1911, which was rightly considered very advanced for its time,” he continues.
The head of state also mentions among the values of the Republic “the appreciation of political and ideological pluralism, state secularism and religious freedom, the democratization and enhancement of culture and education as means of national development, as well as significant reforms concerning family and women’s rights (although women had to wait another 20 years to be able to vote).”
“That is why it is so important to recall our history and evoke the unrest of the founders of the First Republic, who called on us to build a better future,” he adds.
This marks the last October 5th of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s presidential terms, which began on March 9, 2016, and will end on March 9 of the following year.
In 2019, the commemorative ceremony at Praça do Município also did not include speeches, as it coincided with the eve of the legislative elections.
