António Cotrim / LUSA
André Ventura during the conference commemorating the 50th anniversary of IDL – Instituto Amaro da Costa
Taking advantage of political cycles to import cultural wars? When political cycles change, the bill appears.
Burqas will be banned in Portugal soon. Last Friday, PSD, IL and CDS-PP this Friday, in general, the Chega bill that aims to prohibit the use of burqas in public spaces, invoking women’s rights and security issues.
Chega wants “the use, in public spaces, of clothing intended to hide or obstruct the display of the face to be prohibited”, with some exceptions. André Ventura explained that the objective is to prohibit “women from wearing burqas in Portugal” and addressed immigrants in particular.
Anselmo Crespo has no opinion on the topic. He doesn’t like seeing women with their faces covered on the street, but he has “the biggest doubts” about whether the ideal path is to prohibit it. I would need more information to focus on this subject alone.
However, the director at CNN Portugal saw another priority in this debate in the Assembly of the Republic: “Clearly Chega’s urgency in bringing this issue to Parliament, and in approving the law, has nothing to do with this issue being urgent or relevant in Portugal”.
The idea is different: “It is the temptation we have to import cultural wars, every time we are on top from a political point of view, or close to power”.
On the radio, the political commentator recalled that the left did this. He did not give examples, but the climate, the “woke” culture and minorities will be on the list: “He took these cultural wars to the limit – and he is paying the price”.
And now the trend has reached the other side, claims Anselmo: “I think the right is starting to make the same mistake: take advantage of these cultural political cycles that, sooner or later, they will bring a bill, when political cycles change”.
Anselmo Crespo sees no great purpose in approving the law on burqas, other than Chega flooding social media with publications, “as if this had been a great civilizational achievement for the country”.
