Q. What was the role of the Portuguese Communist Party in the formation of a new government after the elections to the National Assembly?

S Prasanth, Chennai

ELECTIONS to the national assembly of Portugal were held on October 4, 2015, which threw a fractured mandate. The ruling right-wing coalition of the conservatives consisting of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Peoples' Party (PP) lost 12 percent of the vote and the majority they had enjoyed in the assembly. The parties that contested the election against the policies of the ruling coalition, like the Socialist Party (PS), the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Bloc (BE) won more votes (together winning nearly 51 percent of the vote) and seats in the assembly. This result is the outcome of some of the sustained struggles carried out by the working class and other people of Portugal against the economic crisis, into which the country was pushed, and against the EU imposed austerity measures.

The election results made it sure that no major party, either the PSD or the PS could form a government on their own, without taking the support of the PCP and the BE. In fact, many attempts were made by the ruling classes to bring out an alliance between the PSD and the PS, precisely to keep out the PCP from having any role in influencing the decisions in the formation of the government or its conduct. But all such attempts had failed as there was a seething anger among the people against the PSD, which led the country into pursuing the 'austerity' path following the prescriptions of the EU-ECB-IMF triumvirate.

The president of the country, who incidentally belongs to the PSD, ignoring the election result which was against the ruling coalition, once again called them to form the government. This move was decried by the people of Portugal, who expressed their resentment against the decision of the president.

The PCP tabled the motion of no-confidence in the assembly and ensured the defeat of the PSD coalition, as all the other parties – the PS, PCP and the BE – came together and voted out the government. The PCP stated that it is upon the PS to form the government and that it is 'open and committed' to 'identify issues, measures and solutions' that can ensure this change. The popular pressure from below forced the PS to negotiate with the PCP and BE and shed its initial reluctance to form a government with the support of the 'Left'.

The PCP had extended its support to the PS on the basis of an understanding that the two parties had arrived at and released as a 'joint position'. Acknowledging the elections results as a 'new reality', where the Portuguese people had expressed their 'will for change' and demanded that 'the course that has been followed by the previous government is brought to a halt', they agreed on certain minimum positions. These positions centred around finding a response to the legitimate aspirations of the Portuguese people like, to see their incomes restored, their rights restored and better living standards ensured. These two parties chose to stress upon these points of convergence and use the governmental power to undo the 'austerity' measures pursued by the previous government.

After both the parties had announced a statement of 'joint position', the president was forced to call the PS to form a government, which it did, with Antonio Costa, taking oath as the prime minister.

The PCP had all through maintained that it is extending support to the government from outside and on 'certain conditions', retaining its right to criticise the government and mobilise people against what it perceives as anti-people policies of the government. There is a divergence between the two parties on the manner in which the whole question of external debt has to be addressed and the attitude towards the big business, particularly, on the need to increase taxes on their profits, dividends, etc, ensure the implementation of national minimum wage and other pro-labour legislations.

The PCP categoricallly states that the present government in Portugal is not a 'Left government' or an 'alliance of the Lefts'. According to it, this is a minority government of the Socialist Party, 'limited to the seriousness of the country's situation'. The Central Committee of the PCP noted that the “political situation entails a lot of novelty and uncertainty and places on the Party great demands in terms of political and institutional intervention”. It also stated that “the separate and independent action of the Party is fundamental to influence developments in the right direction and in the affirmation and materialisation of the programme”.

The PCP stated that the current time is ripe for mass mobilisations and only through mass actions, can the government be ensured to undo the policies of the previous government.