Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
General strike against tougher labor laws to paralyze Portugal Thursday
Hospitals, schools, most public transport, flights, and government offices are all likely to operate at a bare minimum on Thursday, Dec. 11, when Portugal is set to have its first general strike in 12 years.
The planned action is going ahead after the country’s right-wing government refused to budge on proposed changes to labor laws, which would make it easier for companies to fire staff and outsource work, cut benefits such as bereavement leave, and more, in the name of making the labor market more flexible.
The General Union of Workers (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT) and the General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP), the country’s main unions, have called for their members to walk out, and most members of the cabin-crew union (Sindicato Nacional do Pessoal de Voo da Aviação Civil, SNPVAC) have voted to join the strike as well.
In all, more than two dozen unions are taking part, according to SIC Notícias — which also reported that several unions have already called for a strike on Friday, Dec. 12, as well, including the Union of Nurses.
Some schools are also warning parents that they may be closed for both days.
During the strike, some basic services at emergency rooms and hospitals will be available, as well as limited transport (some details on which lines are here) and flights (details here).
Demonstrations are confirmed for major cities – CGTP put out its schedule here, if you’d like to join.
In Lisbon, there’s a demonstration at Rossio at 10h which leaves at 14h30 for Assembleia da República.
Marcelo undergoes surgery in Porto, thanks SNS
Last week, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was released from Hospital de São João in Porto after successfully undergoing surgery for an incarcerated hernia, Público reported.
Marcelo praised the National Health Service (SNS) and said the hospital should be lauded, both from the “institutional” perspective of the President of the Republic and from the perspective of “citizen Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa,” according to Público.
An incarcerated hernia is typically non-threatening unless it’s prolonged — as compared to, say, a strangulated hernia, which can lead to complications and life-threatening conditions.
Nonetheless, incarcerated hernias still require monitoring and at times surgical intervention.
For Marcelo, it was his fourth operated hernia, according to Publico.
His father and daughter also have the condition, he said last week.
Far-right Chega leader André Ventura leads in latest presidential poll, give or take 4% margin of error
On Jan. 18, Portugal is heading to the polls to elect Marcelo’s replacement, and according to the latest poll from the newspaper Diário de Notícias and data analytics firm Aximage, it’s now likely to be André Ventura, the lawyer-turned-novelist-turned-football commentator-turned leader of the far-right Chega party.
Independent candidate Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo dropped in the poll from 24.4% to 17.5%, putting him in third place, behind ex-Social Democrat leader Luis Marques Mendes (18.2%) and leaving Ventura in the lead with 19.1%, according to DN.
At the end of November, Gouveia e Melo and Ventura were tied for first place.
The 4% margin of error in the DN/Aximage poll, however, means that the three candidates are basically tied, as Público helpfully points out.
These figures also suggest that no candidate would win outright in the election, meaning a runoff is likely, and previous polls show Ventura would likely lose in a second round.
Ventura’s path to the presidency has been exciting so far: in March, he released a Facebook video officially declaring his intention to run, only to change his mind just three days later.
In September, he was back in.
Ventura also came in third in Portugal’s 2021 presidential elections.
The powers allowed to the Portuguese President are many, including commanding the armed forces, for one, and the ability to dissolve the parliament.
And although the President is the Head of State and the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, the latter is appointed by the President based on parliamentary election results, with the role traditionally going to the head of the party in the lead.
Traditionally.
Regardless of how the Presidential elections play out, Ventura’s Chega has already succeeded in pushing through plenty of measures aimed at curbing immigration by aligning with the less-far-right ruling coalition of the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata – PSD) and the People’s Party (Partido Popularo – CDS-PP) — or the ruling party aligning with Chega, as some suspect — against the Socialists.
