“It is difficult not to believe that the smaller the number of “guardenses” in the various decision-making dimensions, the greater the likelihood of the district taking a leap, but towards oblivion and irrelevance. “
The fact that a district has some of its elected politicians in power bodies does not in itself ensure increased levels of public investment in its territory and regional development. Let the Guarda district say so, which once had much greater representation than it has today and that is not why it took a leap forward. One thing is certain: If the fusion of the chosen one with his land may not bring special advantages, the divorce between the two certainly brings disadvantages.
It is difficult not to believe that the fewer the number of “guardenses” in the various decision-making dimensions, the greater the likelihood of the district taking a leap, but towards oblivion and irrelevance. Now, the current situation is one of the worst ever and cannot leave anyone satisfied or hopeful. In the Government there is not a single minister or secretary of State from these parts, which does not bode well. In the Assembly of the Republic, the deputy elected by the PS is not from here nor does she live here and neither does the one elected by CHEGA. Only the AD took the care to indicate and the opportunity to elect a head of the local list, and it is only to her that the people of Guarda can truly “ask an account”, if only because they go to the supermarket, go to the street and can be confronted. It’s little, very little, for those who need a lot. Everyone has sworn to serve the district, but not everyone feels the same way, and this can only worsen the asymmetry of so many years of centralism and “coastalism”.
If the Guard’s influence in the country is in the streets of bitterness, beyond the borders it is at its zero level. In the lists of parties that can elect deputies to the European Parliament, none of those that will sit in Brussels from June have roots in our district. The PS ignored us. CHEGA followed. AD gave us a dishonorable 19th place. The others also thought (if I’m not mistaken) that the best options were candidates from other geographies. We are in need and if there is something that these 50 years of April highlight well, it is the total failure of territorial cohesion concerns, which nothing and no one shows any signs of wanting to reverse. I don’t know if for these reasons and/or others, in the local elections voters in the district capital seem to have had enough of the parties and chose an “independent” candidacy. The gain that this bet had has yet to be demonstrated, as the president of the Chamber confessed in his speech on April 25th, when he held the national government responsible for some failures or “inconsistencies” that he expressed.
And it is also this “sprain” that we face. Independents are neither “meat nor fish” and any ill-prepared ruler or party that is currently in Terreiro do Paço and that feels that they should always give more to “their fans” than to others (and it is not uncommon to find them ), puts the Guard in an even darker cloud. Hence, in a country like Portugal, which is addicted, which is not yet an adult and has enormous tics of provincialism by not looking at its territory as a whole, perhaps it is just the fulfillment of the phrase that Sá Carneiro made famous in his power project when he wanted to elect Soares Carneiro as President of the Republic can minimize the damage. The phrase, which was a wish and which can be adapted to other levels of power, including local power, is the following: «A majority, a Government and a President». If this trilogy, if it happens, leaves everything as it is – which is possible – then the best thing is for the last one to come and turn off the light, because following the path will be disaster and the best thing is that we don’t see where we’re going to hit.
note: The newspaper O INTERIOR deserves new reflections and approaches. Mine have been going on for more than three years, so it’s time for me to take a break. I can only thank the newspaper’s management for the opportunity they gave me, in the certainty that whoever comes next will make all readers better informed people.
* Lawyer and president of the District Assembly of the PSD of Guarda
