The European Council of Heads of State tele-met again yesterday, presided by the Portuguese Prime Minister, giving those that understand the Portuguese and the Portuguese language, the privilege of being one of the first to hear what the council wants to make known.
Maybe my mental health is trying to send me signals, but I believe I did hear that we can expect a "lessons learned" report from the EU sometime in June 2021.
On a positive note, it certainly is welcoming and original to hear that political leaders have time in a foreseeable future to look back on 12 months of data on deaths and despair, hinting a turning point beyond the widely perceived new normal many of us thought we had to acostume to.
Unlike many other EU Member States, the Portuguese like professional politicians. People complain and protest in private circles but overall the vast majority - half of which makes the effort to vote in elections -will peacefully allow politicians to pursue their usual busyness without asking any particular questions, leaving constructive or destructive commentary to ex- or future politicians who equally professionally populate media, also without being contested.
A long time ago I once heard the now widely re-elected President of the Republic pinpoint to a group of foreign investors that the Portuguese people are very easy to govern. To this day it strikes me how right his vision was.
The only day-to-day obstacle politicians encounter in Portugal are other (former) politicians and that's why traditionally parties only can govern if the party itself secures a majority of seats so that any challenging questions that may pop up can be avoided or archived and void. And that is why Parliamentary debates are generally always a mere series of individual speeches without any meanigful discussion, conversation or real negotiation. And that is also why the younger electorate who already lived through two severe crises and are arguably the most affected by the present one, is not making itself heard. There just seems to be no point. The older patrons in politics insist they know better and they are the boss. They appear more another brick in a wall to me.
There is irony in that Mr Costa recently felt he had to counter attack critics whom after all "had no clue of what is is like to be in the driver's seat" (especially because unlike the President of the Republic he choses to be chauffeured around).
I wonder if in the Portuguese chapter of the announced lessons learned report there will be mention of the fairly individual stubbornness to keep schools flowing, to only then abruptly order them closed blaming the non-compliance of the population or vaccine manufacturers, circumventing any inquiries on the lack of readiness of the national healthcare system or on-line schooling facilities to name a few examples.
With a bit of homework, I can imagine plausible motives why a Prime Minister resists in introducing or opening some form of debate on a potential plan or roadmap on what all layers of a society can or should reflect upon to allow ending lockdown measures, even if that may effectively commence in less than 15 days.
What then does seriously trouble me is that the same Mr Costa publicly claims an ability to showcase and defend a €14 billion 350 page draft plan to socially and economically boost that same society for the next 10 years. I do not think the EU is that ignorant and neither are the Portuguese people.
Would it have occurred to Mr Costa that the quality of the lessons learned report will become a condition for the EU funds ? After all both are scheduled to be liberated in June. It would seem that the free youngsters of this country are not the only ones in need for some additional schooling.
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