On April 2, 1976, an attack killed Father Max and student Maria de Lurdes Correia. When André Ventura yesterday performed an infamous number at the session that marked the approval, 50 years ago, of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, he conveniently forgot this and many other crimes of the extreme right, committed before, during and after that same day.
André Ventura spoke about the deaths in left-wing terrorist attacks, but he forgot about the innocent deaths that right-wing terrorists caused. This is proof that, for him, there are Portuguese people who deserve to live, but there are others who don’t.
André Ventura spoke about the FP-25, but forgot about the ELP and the MDLP.
André Ventura accused deputies of the Constituent Assembly of having belonged to far-left organizations that dedicated themselves to this terrorism — which is a lie —, but he forgot that there are Chega deputies who worked for political organizations that dedicated themselves to right-wing terrorism.
André Ventura complained about the amnesties given to those convicted of the FP-25, but forgot about the shelving of police investigations and the pardons given to the terrorist extreme right, starting with their leader, António de Spínola, who was also decorated and promoted to marshal.
André Ventura wants to review the Constitution, but it is not to go back to what existed before the 25th of April: he wants to go much further back, to the 19th century, to 1884, to repeal the law that, at that time, ended life imprisonment. He no longer wants to return to Salazarism; he wants to go back even further, perhaps even to stupid Miguelism or to the absolutist monarchy.
I want to believe that the rest of the Portuguese right will not go after this attempt at a civilizational setback, especially because a country that occupies 7th place on the list of the safest countries in the world does not really need such a law.
Where the right can clearly agree on a new constitutional review is in the labor and social part of the Fundamental Law.
Where the right can understand itself — just think of the “structural reforms” it usually proposes — is in the weakening of the legal value of the right to work and job security.
Where the right can understand itself — just think about the philosophy of the current labor package proposed by the AD Government — is in the destruction of the prohibition of unfair dismissals, in the restriction of the competences and powers of workers’ committees and trade union organizations, and in the weakening of collective bargaining.
Where the right can understand itself — just remember Luís Montenegro’s intention to substantially increase mandatory minimum services — is in reducing the right to strike.
Where the right can clearly understand itself in a new constitutional review is in the weakening of Social Security, threatening us with its bankruptcy, it is in the discrimination by social classes in the protection of health, through a National Health Service handed over to global privatization and business for some.
Where the right can be understood is in limiting the rights of access of the entire population to housing, education, culture and sport — and, if these political obligations of the State are not even written in the Constitution, they will never be a reality.
These will be the true objectives of a constitutional review contrived by the two-thirds majority of the right in Parliament. In some respects, we would, in fact, return to the 19th century.
It will be legitimate, but it will be terrible.
Leave a Reply