António José Seguro assumes the Presidency of the Republic at a time when the margin for vague speeches or excessive prudence is increasingly smaller. The country is going through a critical moment and the world sees war gaining ground. The challenges are just around the corner – and they require more than institutional neutrality.
The first will be the employment package. In the name of competitiveness and modernization, as if this were not compatible with labor rights, changes are once again being put on the table that mean the weakening of those who work. When we talk about hyper-flexibility in the labor market, we rarely talk about the precariousness, low wages or lack of stability that marks the lives of thousands of workers. As a candidate, he was peremptory: the labor package, as it stands, will not pass. The unions presented proposals for discussion. The Government does not negotiate and bows to the most extremist patronage. The President of the Republic does not govern, it is true. But it can intervene with the mechanisms at its disposal, when social balances are called into question. If you do so, you will be fulfilling your role. If not, you will just be watching.
The international framework is another challenge that the new President will have to face. Europe cannot continue to react to the military build-up in the Middle East as if it were merely watching from a distance, reaching out to US imperial objectives under the Trump Administration. Portugal is faced with choices that cannot be hidden behind alleged diplomatic formulas. The use of Base das Lajes takes on a particularly sensitive dimension. Recent history shows how military infrastructures in Portuguese territory have already been used to support controversial military operations.
The question that arises is simple: is Portugal willing to be part of this mechanism again, revealing silent submission, while International Law is violated?
Finally, the challenge that immediately concerns us: the reconstruction of the country. The recent catastrophes reveal what has long been known – a country where strategic sectors are in the hands of private interests, territorial ordering is scarce and planning is not abundant, excessively centralized and incapable of responding quickly and closely to the population. Talking about reconstruction cannot just mean repairing destroyed roads or houses. It means rethinking the State organization model.
Regionalization, so often postponed due to political calculation or fear of debate, once again emerges as an inevitable issue. A country where everything depends on Lisbon is a slower, more unequal and more vulnerable country. Giving power to territories and a voice to the population does not mean fragmenting the State; is to make it more effective and more democratic.
António José Seguro enters Belém with these challenges at his door. Faced with them, you will have to choose whether you want to be just a protocol guarantor of institutional stability or a voice capable of confronting vested interests and opening discussions that Portugal has postponed for a long time.
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