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PORTUGAL WAS IN limbo today as its leftwing opposition waited for the green light to take power, after toppling the 11-day-old conservative minority government in a dramatic parliamentary vote.
President Anibal Cavaco Silva is set to decide whether to charge Socialist leader Antonio Costa with forming a new government in the face of concerns over whether the fragile leftist alliance can last.
Silva, a conservative, has never hidden his reluctance to giving the reins to left-wingers he regards as “anti-European” and “opposed to NATO”, and may require further guarantees of stability from Costa.
The uncertainty has fuelled nervousness amongst investors in a country that is still emerging from an international bailout, though Costa has vowed that any Socialist-led government will meet its international commitments.
The most probably scenario is that (Silva) will name Antonio Costa as prime minister, but that decision will depend on the firmness of the agreement he’s presented with,” said political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto.
The president could also leave a conservative caretaker government in power ahead of fresh elections, which could similarly result in the removal from power of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, who was set to meet with Silva this afternoon.
A majority alliance
The newly-formed alliance of the Socialist Party, Communists, Greens and Left Bloc – which is close to Greece’s ruling Syriza - is the first of its kind since the birth of a democratic Portugal, and had seemed unimaginable just weeks ago due to differences between the groups.
Together the three parties hold 122 seats out of 230 in parliament, a majority that allowed them to vote down Coelho’s government programme yesterday.
Coelho’s centre-right coalition won the most votes in last month’s elections but lost the absolute majority it had enjoyed since 2011. His government, sworn in on October 30, is the shortest-lived since Portugal returned to democracy in 1974.
The leftists want to reverse some cutbacks and reforms demanded by creditors following Portugal’s €78 billion bailout.
No guarantees
But the three agreements signed yesterday between the leftists provide few details on how they would govern together.
They do not guarantee the approval of a budget, and there is no reference to Portugal’s European commitments – a potential sticking point between the europhile Socialists and more radical leftists who are traditionally critical of Brussels.
Any new elections could not take place until June at the earliest, as the current parliament cannot be dissolved for six months.
- © AFP 2015.
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If they cared they would register.
@Padraic Burke: if the government cared they’d register them as they took away child benefit. Not too difficult.
@Dave Bruen: should we wipe their backsides well? For many this will be the first time they has to take personal responsibility as a citizen. If you want to link it a government system then revenue is the place to do it
@Dave Bruen:
Whatever happened to taking personal responsibility, or do you really want to sit back and let the government do everything for you??
@Padraic Burke: if they have any sense they wont bother, voting is futile
@jon-boy55: yes yes the ability to get off your hole and choose who runs your country is a complete waste of time. Don’t complain about the government if you don’t vote. And if you don’t like who’s running. Run yourself. Be the change not the tabloid loving moaner
@Padraic Burke: If the government cared *Guffaw!*, everyone would get a mandatory vote to confirm if any of the political parties entering elections accurately represented their actual political beliefs. Voting for civil war parties gives an impression of choice, but it’s equivalent to voting for your least damaging oppressor.
@Dave Bruen: How would anyone know where to register them?
@Fin Tastic: voting should be mandatory imho but telling some
Automatic registration should be tied to your PPS from birth with an opt out facility should someone desire.
Same should be said for organ donation.
@Jesus Christ: never thought I’d agree with the sayings of the fictional Jesus Christ….
@Jesus Christ: Lord how would you tie the address into that? Assumption that they still live at home?
@Jesus Christ: You’re spot on. We need the state and its officials to control us far more. We’re their property after all.
@Jesus Christ: O God yes.
@Jesus Christ: Would that not get those who shout about civil rights complaining?
@Jesus Christ: why should it be the same. Some people prefer to opt out. Plus you cant get called for jury duty if not registered.
You can’t argue with this. The state never fails to cut off child benefit without a reminder. One would wonder what the fear is?…maybe a swing away from traditional boring parties?
@winston smith: I’m actually against the idea of the government automatically registering people..
some local politician took it upon themselves to register me (without consent or notification) after i turned 18… i STILL had to go and sort it out myself, as they spelled my name completely wrong.. yes, i have an unusual name, but the misspell was horrendous.. similar to mixing up david and daniel.
if people want to vote they will register
Good idea. Also, we should remove this archaic and inconvenient requirement of having to get up off the couch and go to a polling station in order to vote. Surely in this day and age we could just download an app or blink at the facial recognition thingy.
@Lester Jeffcoat:
But the Russians will hack it
@Lester Jeffcoat: what about postal voting? No fancy tech needed for that.
@Lester Jeffcoat: Time to dust down Dempseys voting machines?
@Lester Jeffcoat: If everyone was registered to vote, could the register be used to check on who is in the country or over seas illegally working, just a mad thought?
During the time when my children were growing up we would have discussions of the importance of being able to vote when they reached the age they got themselves registered since that day they have all got out to vote. There’s no point in having automatic registration without knowing the importance of going to vote.
@Alan Scott:
Tens of thousands of uninterested and naive young people going out to vote for the craic – what could possibly go wrong….
@Avina Laaf: I take it you are not one of them
@Alan Scott: I always brought my daughter to vote with me and explained it’s her duty to get informed and vote or spoil your vote in protest but vote you must. I’ve only missed one vote in my whole life and I think you should be fined if you don’t vote. But also have a box on the slip to register a protest vote.
@Alan Scott:
I’m already registered to vote if that’s what you mean.
@Avina Laaf Im sorry but us “naive young peoole” have better things to do than go and vote “for the craic”
@Sinead Brennan:
I’m talking about the ones who couldn’t be bothered to get off their arse and register to vote.
It’s like soooo random trying to register…
If a younger electorate start voting, this could help to dislodge the damaging domination of Irish politics of FF and FG. Different names; same stuff.
@Fiona deFreyne: and vote for who? The RA?
Those who vote, influence.
Those who don’t vote, can’t influence.
The only way you are going to see any significant change in this country is if there is a massive deregister from voting by everybody. This so called democratic is seriously defunct and the past 100 years is all the evidence you need to see this.
@Dick Durkin:
Yes, democracy is a complete disaster – dictatorships are always better for the people….
@Avina Laaf: yes, because that is the only other option in your capacity of thinking.
@Dick Durkin:
What’s your alternative to the people electing their own representatives?
@Avina Laaf:
I guess monarchy is another option but I’ll stick with democracy given the choice.
@Maurice Bourke:
“Democracy is the worst form of government, apart from all the others.”
in a similar apartment to what I am now when I transferred my vote to my new address and voted in the same sex marriage referendum. When the GE came around I was told my name was removed from the register because I didn’t answer the door when someone came around to check if I lived there. Given they could not access the building and didn’t leave a note I thought this not just strange but essentially gerrymandering.
After registering again I got a text from a local Councillor yesterday telling me I wasn’t on register again. Same thing taken off the register.
I understand problems of voted fraud but you cant take people names of the register. From what I heard speaking other victims of this around the time of GE it was young people and people from a perceived more working class estate.
@Jayme Mc Goldrick:
On the article itself, the voting register should be opt out rather than opt in. Plain and simple. If you are a democracy you do everything to ensure every citizen can vote. Simple as.
@Jayme Mc Goldrick: sorry about the grammar in the first post had to cut 500 characters Twitter style! :)
@Jayme Mc Goldrick: I’m essentially registered twice, as some local politician registered me under a completely fictional name when i turned 18.. we found out when i started getting 2 polling cards.. i’m 30 now, and my parents still get one for my “good twin” as we call her…
@Jayme Mc Goldrick: getting people’s names right should be the first thing any government does when getting people registered to vote..
i’m registered twice, as some politician decided to earn a vote by registering me (without consent or notification) and ended up using a completely made-up name… somehow, our postman has figured out that this fake name is me.. as even though i’m now living out of home, and registered correctly elsewhere, my other polling card always goes home.
We should encourage more people to vote!
Said no Govt party ever!
Democracy ?
Surely you are having a laugh.
Putting a 1,2,3 on a piece of paper with a pencil every 4 or 5 years is not Democracy.
There is a democratic deficit in Ireland and it will not be filled until we rid ourselves of the nod and wink cronyism that is prevalent amongst the upper level of the civil ‘servants’ that wield the controls on Dublin.
@eastsmer:
What’s your alternative?
@eastsmer: Merkel and the Troika under the mask of the EU has shown us that there is no democracy here just the illusion of one. Without democracy there is no nationalism and there is no sovereignty.
https://web.archive.org/web/20170512205649/https://www.fiannafail.ie/speech-by-ff-leader-micheal-martin-at-dail-seanad-session-with-michel-barnier/
“We want nothing to do with a backward looking idea of sovereignty”.
Ireland is only going through the motion of democracy at each election because the pact between FG and FF now has shown us all the bull about trying to drum up civil war bull at each election is a show like every government that has been in charge since we joined the EEC and especially the Euro.
If you haven’t the interest to register you shouldn’t have a vote.
@Fergus Moroney: Some people are sick of the same oulde bull from the same oulde politicians. Then they tell people on sites like this not to vote and it is people not voting that is causing the problem. So they are the ones keeping the old system from changing and that just reinforces the system and their views. They are their own worst enemy as are the ones who listen to them?
They should definitely be registered automatically, I had a nightmare in town yesterday just trying to get the form to register, it should just be done as soon as you’re 18, and if you don’t want to be then just say so, simple
@Sinead Brennan: I remember registering – it hasn’t changed. I went into my local library and got a form to register to vote. Garda stations and post offices have them too. I got it signed in the Garda station. Then I posted it to the county council.
@Sinead Brennan: i got registered at 18 by a local politician… then had to go and register myself anyway, as they couldn’t get my name right.. so nope, i don’t agree with auto registering people, simply because i don’t trust third parties to spell my name right..
make voting online and a lot more people would vote
@Leitrim303: No matter the result they would blame Russia for it?
Tidying of their bedrooms and laundry should automatically be done for them too.
If the state have an address them definitely but people move about so much there could be chaos
@Margaret Deacon: The thing is people at different ages have different needs and wants. They also have different experiences, values and lifestyles, it is experiences from life that can shape them as well as the influence of others because as people age they can mature and change. Groups at certain ages need different things, experience life differently or are influenced by others differently based on their age group.
Teens are different from those in their 20′s and they are different from those in their 30′s and so on and so on. An example might be how a teen could be for abortion and in her 20′s might be against abortion due to being a mother, it is following the crowd at a certain age and then later having an experience that changes them.
Peoples views and beliefs are mainly from others and the environment of family, friends, community versus which crowds we then choose to follow. Everyone is influenced by others and no ones belief or emotion is really ever theirs.
It seems that politics and society can do this according to what group you decide to follow and why do people do this because it already suites what they believe and they believe it because they get something in return from it. It is politics that keeps on promising stuff to get people to vote for them and it is broken promises that delude people from politics?
I have turned 18 this year and as such I’m not yet registered to vote. I’ve seen online in recent days that there is a deadline each year, which is today (25/11), I’m just wondering does this mean I’m now unable to register, or is there another method? The actual registration process isn’t very clear.
@Shane Dunne: Yes, you can still register to vote. You only missed the cut-off date for the printed register, so apply now and get added to a Supplement to the register. You can pick up a form in any library, post office or garda station.
He says “While it is accepted that each citizen has a responsibility to get registered,” and then goes on to argue for paternalism.
@neilo:
Awwwhhhh neilo is it your bedtime?
It young people want to vote, it’s not an overly complicated process to register, there could even be an argueent if one can’t be bothered to go through the process to register so they deserve a vote. The article suggests that today’s youth want everything without any effort, perhaps an electoral representative should calm to their house (but not when East Enders is on) so they can vote from home. The reality is plenty of young people were able to make the effort to register and vote when the marriage referendum came about, it’s expected the same will happen again with the abortion referendum, if it means something to people they will register and vote, day to day politics and the running of the country are obviously lower on a lot of people agenda’s so those people don’t bother (in my opinion they also lose the right to complain about the running of the country, tax, politicians etc, by not bothering to vote). It’s a civic responsibility to vote, it’s not hard to register, it really just a waste of an article.
Yes, it’s really straightforward -
Application Forms
Form RFA - For persons not yet registered to be included in the draft Register of Electors 2017-2018.
Form RFA2 - Application for inclusion in the Supplement to the Register of Electors 2016-2017
Form RFA3 - Change of Address form
Form RFA5 - Application for inclusion in the Supplement to the Register of Electors by a person already registered, who becomes an Irish citizen
Form PVS1 - Application for inclusion in the Supplement to the Postal Voters List by persons with a Physical Illness or a Physical Disability
Form PVS2 - (including certain Students)
Form SVS1 - Application for inclusion in the Supplement to the Special Voters List
Young people see this democratic system for what it is, an old boys club when they act if they were talking in their sleep and party politics is acted out like if they are still fighting the civil war while behind doors they all have the same bedfellows.
Many can see that if there was real democracy here then the generations born after we as in Ireland joined the EEC would have a democratic say in it because when Ireland voted on joining, it was totally different that it is now. Some people can see how the joke of democracy was played out over the Lisbon / Maastricht treaties. This only shows that the EU has killed off democracy here with nationalism and sovereignty.
All the main parties do is act like if they are in a play in the Dail in some sort of Home Rule joke from Brussels, Frankfurt and from Berlin. How can the young people be interested in politics when we in a political sense have out hands tied by EU debt as in austerity and where parties play a game of pass the buck and pass the envelopes as well. Democracy does not create change, it is lobbying, those with the money can make change happen and those with our debt can make us play the town drunkard dancing for another drink?
Where is national pride in that, we tell ourselves how great we are and talk about equality especially our politicians while there are homeless families on the streets.
If it’s ok much bother to register they shouldn’t be trusted to vote
No .
I’ve lived in a country where if you do not vote you cannot:
Do living cert
Go to university
Get a job
And you can be jailed .
Yes ladies and gentlemen is called a dictatorship.
By the time I was 18 I was in university and my mom is a lecturer . No that isn’t a good thing as you are forced to work counting the votes . We wouldn’t mind that if for 48hrs whilst this happen the law isn’t allow to arrest anyone : meaning the burglars raid your homes while you go away voting .
I had to prove ( I kid you not ) that I had a nervous breakdown and count not count ,go to a psychiatrist for certification in order to not go counting votes . My mother had to go counting votes .
That afternoon I fire several shots against two groups of burglars .
I also had my uncle and the gentlemen of the drug squad help me out .
Isn’t that nice ? You do not want to go down this road .
But the moral of this story is : voting as well as an interest in politics should be cultivated on the young not obligated on them . I am proud to be a citizen I have to say I have never missed a vote day here . I make time to talk to young friends about politics and why politics is life and affect everyone directly . What is missing on the young is being able to make this connection. The earlier they realise the money in their pockets depend upon what kind of government we have they will run to the voting places like their bodies were on fire !
I don’t even believe in voting for under-21s, and I’ve said that since I was 16. Being over 21 is no guarantee of intelligence, but nearly all 18 year olds are complete dopes.
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