Tiago Petinga / Lusa
The President of the Republic today referred to the eight years of cohabitation with the former Prime Minister, António Costa, as a time that, “compared to what was coming”, will be remembered as one of “relative happiness”.
In an initiative by the newspaper Público on media literacy, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated “big concern” with the media landscape and declared that in his mandates he has sought to “act in the face of so-called populism, through popular means, without exceeding the limits that separate the popular from the populist”.
In the middle of his speech, when talking about constant changes and the “permanent reconstruction of History”, the head of State referred to the time he lived with Antonio Costanow president of the European Council.
“I often said to a governor with whom I shared almost 8 years and means of an unforgettable experience: one day you will recognize that we were happy and we didn’t know“, he reported.
“It was all relative, it was relative happinessbut, compared to what was out there, it was bliss”, considered the President of the Republic.
In this speech, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa returned to the idea that we are entering in a new cycle “in relation to political, economic, social and communication systems” and that “reality is not rational, it is emotional”.
“New leaders are emotionalthe new forms of communication are emotional, the new powers are emotional, they are not rational”, he pointed out.
Regarding the media scenario, the President of the Republic associated the North American presidency of Donald Trump that began in 2016 with the emergence of a “direct communication chain with the recipients”, which seeks to “abolish all intermediation” and create “new means of social communication tailored to that style”, defining “a new communication paradigm”.
“No responsibilityinfluence, serve as intermediaries and do not respond, because are not elected. Help to choose. This is a new transnational phenomenon, which coincides with the geopolitics we live in today”, he described.
The head of state expressed “very worried” with this “transnational phenomenon” and with the problems of the “more classic media”, which in his opinion are “weaker, fighting for survival, with greater internal instability, from the point of view of that survival, with a capacity to limited renewal”.
The President of the Republic defended that, faced with this “new context”, the political, economic and social systems “either readjust or enter into crisis“.
“This also applies to leaders. Leaders either readjust or die faster or die more slowly — coinciding with a period of natural leadership replacement, particularly in Europe”, he added.
Criticism of the use of torches and firecrackers
The President of the Republic also considered that it is essential to resolve the problem of the status of firefightersbut criticized the use of torches and firecrackers and the burning of tires in their demonstrations.
“The fundamental thing is that, on the authorities’ side, there is the notion that the statute must advanceon the side of firefighters, that there are methods that do not honor them, are opposed to your interests and your credibilitysuch as using fire, burning tires, using firecrackers and using torches in a firefighter demonstration”, defended Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
According to the head of state, “there is a status problem” of the sapper firefighters, “which results from the employer being the municipalities, the State being the one who establishes the legal status and, therefore, there being a three-way triangular relationship here”.
“It is essential to solve this problembecause it has been going on for a long time, more than 20 years have passed, it has to be resolved”, he appealed.
“Regarding the form of struggle” used in recent demonstrations, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his opinion concerned about the “credibility of institutions” more than with “the problem of legality”, noting that “firefighters are, perhaps, the most highly regarded vocational or professional activity” in Portugal.
“That’s why, I don’t consider it happy thatone of the reasons for the safety created in people is fighting fire, in demonstrations use fire as an instrument of labor struggle”, he stated, criticizing “there were burning tires in front of the Assembly of the Republic” or “torches in front of the Government headquarters”.
“I don’t think they’re using firecrackers either”, added the president, “because ordinary citizens cannot demonstrate with firecrackers.”
