Luís Montenegro, president of the PSD.
“Country is advancing” and “the priority is to consolidate this progress”? Government uses institutional social networks to advertise: “it gets bad,” but has no predicted sanctions.
On the day of approval, which should cause the government to fall, the executive hurried to publish in social networks an explanation of what is this motion and its effects. “What is at stake?” Read on Instagram of the official government account.
But the publication seems to be an act of propaganda. It marks the various measures announced by the government of Luís Montenegro and the achievements of it, and ensures that “the country is advancing” and that “the priority is to consolidate this progress.”
“Portugal cannot be hostage to block or instability,” warns the publication, which can be understood as a reinforcement of the idea that the confidence motion must be approved, but…
But after all, is it right? No. Is it illegal? Neither.
Institutionally, the official account belongs to the state – is updated by the government in office, that is, it is not exactly the government account.
“Politically, it is bad for the government being campaigning for himself, which, deep down, is a campaign for a party ”confesses lawyer Paulo Veiga Moura, expert in administrative law, to: this account “does not serve to advertise government things”, nor “to say whether the country is well or not.”
But from the legal point of view, It is not illegalsince there is no ongoing electoral period or an explicit political campaign. “Within or outside the election period, no party should make use of state means for political propaganda or political campaign,” says Paulo Saragoça da Motta, another law expert, but the law does not provide for a specific sanction for this type of eventual infringement.
This is not an isolated case in this government of Luís Montenegro. Already in May of the previous year, the National Elections Commission (CNE) warned the government about publications on social networks that could configure improper political propaganda, and even ordered the removal of phrases considered too promotional for a political party with fiscal relief and increases of performance for Portuguese citizens: a country with better salaries and lower tax load ”, read in the publication, and more money for Families for Families, and more money for the CNE. Esas ”,“ more income for all Portuguese ”,“ not only we meet, but we have surpassed the electoral commitment ”,“ we are making the way for an era of fiscal relief in Portugal ”or“ the government is next to workers and companies, ”says CNN.
