If there is one aspect of private life in Portugal which I kind of adore but deeply despise in a professional arena, it will be to be amidst a group of people who joined for a common reason, without a set agenda, all conversing at the same time.
There is the cliché projection of a family (in the very wide meaning of the word) underneath an olve tree, around long table, men, women and children more or less separated, some will sit silent, while others stand gesturing and crying out for attention. The combined sum of image and noise just appears one big disarray towards an outsider, yet there is a strong sense of hidden harmony, after all, it's family.
We all know what the conclusion of discussion will be in the end; none. Everybody goes home with their fair share of delicious left-overs and perhaps some hang-overs until some next event calls.
Very joyful when at an evening dinner in the home of friends and family. Outright annoying when on a nearly daily basis this concerns the formation of a national government of a country. Perhaps even insulting.
I have always felt that the Portuguese population is held hostage by its politicians and even Aung San Suu Kyi's famous quote on how fear corrupts more than (political) power, strikes me as relevant in Portugal's society.
For whom is still wandering why Portugal ever arrived at it's current position, grap a seat and join the apparent debate at the table. Now is your opportunity to observe why a nation has accumulated so much experience in struggling and muddling. No need to rush, this is tradition and will linger on for quite a while.
Portugal had its regular national elections on 4 October. The two governing political parties were wise to join into a single electorate list as only this allowed them to claim victory in number of votes over the several politically leftish parties. After all, getting the highest number of votes is what it is all about so that egos can have their momentum and rub it in with those that were defeated on election day.
However, the election winners failed to present a government programme acceptable to a parliamentary majority. In a normally functioning society credible politicians would then seek to change negotiations perhaps even the tone of dialogue in order to arrive at the much greater good of a country with a government.
Not in Portugal. Here, president, parties and parliament all need to go through the legal steps of nomination, formation and inauguration totally ignoring the "p" of population or Patria, while defeated parties get together on their own initiative to formalize an alternative government plan, all very secretly and equally disregarding informing a nation.
It gets worse. Simultaneously political parties and media commentators (usually ex-politicians) actually find the time to debate what presidential candidates would have to say about all this if they already were elected to an extent one would almost wonder if there is anything else happening in the world.
Can this get any worse ? It can. Portugal has democratically conceded to losses of sovereignty as a member of the EU, the Eurozone and eventually a bailout programme also involving the IMF. In other words there is not that much room for manoeuvring, whomever will come to sit in government or at the Presidential seat.
Now nutshelling international headlines read how communists caused a government to collapse or speculate on Greece like scenarios with all the cascading side threats in the immediate future.
The sum of image and noise just appears one big disarray towards an outsider .... and I'm afraid that is indeed exactly what it is. There is harmony in a narcissistic desire for media attention and in a lack of submissiveness and plain honour towards a nation but I guess it would be naïf to hope otherwise.
Here too we will know what the conclusion will be albeit at the expense of a population's hangover, with plenty of delicious left-over pensions and titles for a relatively small group of individuals but frankly much too many of them. Shame on you!
