Portugal: farewell to socialism as a constitutional goal?
After Portugal's snap parliamentary election, the conservative PSD, the liberal IL and the far-right Chega have the necessary two-thirds majority for a review of the 1976 constitution, which – written in the spirit of the Carnation Revolution – promises to "open the way to a socialist society" in addition to providing for a social welfare state. Chega and IL are demanding that the opportunity for a constitutional revision be used, while the PSD has so far remained silent on the issue.
Good reasons for revision
Eco warns against blocking the project:
“The radical left is turning a proposed constitutional revision into an attack on democracy. It is polemicising against Chega and its proposals, lumping the liberals together with the populists and blackmailing the PSD. This is the wrong approach. ... There are dozens of constitutional articles that no longer correspond to today's reality and others that should be revised to permit more freedoms and legal guarantees, more private enterprise in a more 'digital' society, less distance between voters and elected officials and better governability. ... It would be a political mistake to block a revision, just as it would be a big mistake if [Prime Minister] Luís Montenegro didn't involve the PS in the process.”
Tantamount to a change of regime
Citing a promise made by the PSD-dominated government alliance AD not to work with Chega, Expresso warns:
“Such a revision without the PS and in co-operation with a far-right party would represent a further political break at one of the most sensitive moments for our constitutional democracy. Regardless of its formal legitimacy, making changes to structural elements of the constitution (as is the nature of our welfare state) without the Socialists can only be seen as a regime change, and should be treated as such, with all the attendant consequences. If the AD chooses to rely on Chega for a process as important as a constitutional revision, it will only be able to rely on Chega for the rest [of the legislative period].”