Lusitanian Press - Augusto Morais in Campaign talks about abortion, post-delegationism and war

[Free Cities League]

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jornal oficial do partido comunista popular​

Avenida do Povo Inaugurada em Beja
People's Avenue Inaugurated in Beja

After two years of hard work by the workers of Beja, the new People’s Avenue was opened, featuring a whole new governmental complex including the Supreme People’s Congress building, the Presidency of the People’s Republic and the headquarters of the People’s Communist Party. Two existing buildings were renovated a given a new use – the former Psychology University is the new home of the People’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and the former People’s Archive also serves as home for the Supreme Council of the People’s Catholic Church, without losing its initial function.

Nearby, a former industrial complex will soon be the home of four ministries – Foreign Affairs, Health, Defence and Education - and the Tequessas Garden was renamed ‘Heroes’ Park’ in honor of all of those who perished during the Liberation War. In the inauguration of the People’s Avenue, President Comrade Ricardo Falcão spoke proudly of the project ‘product of our fallen Comrade Vasques’ design and effort’ and, mostly, ‘product of the sweat dripped by the thousands of workers who participated in its construction, speedily and efficiently’.

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The new building of the Supreme People's Congress


Comrade Falcão hopes the People’s Avenue will serve as a ‘beacon for hope and a meeting point of all Lusitanian workers, peasants and fishermen who wish to fully participate or just know the political framework of the struggle against capitalism’. Then, after the ceremony, both President Falcão and Father Roberto Palma unveiled a statue in honour of Gonçalo Vasques, first President and eternal liberator of the workers of Lusitania, followed by a short mass in honour of the Lusitanian proletariat.

 

[Lusitania]

O Primeiro de Janeiro​

Augusto Morais em Campanha - 'Simpatizamos com o Pós-Delegacionismo, Mas o Nosso Pensamento Tem Outra Fonte'
Augusto Morais in Campaign - 'We Sympathize with Post-Delegationism, But Our Thought is Rooted Somewhere Else'

Triggering the start of the campaign was Augusto Morais, the provisional Prime-Minister and leader of the Party of Freedom. Running on a libertarian platform, Morais has the council democracy reform as one of his greatest trumps, but lack of concrete economic results or improvements might serve as counterweight to his popularity

In a campaign action in the Free City of Braga, he joined the Party of Freedom’s candidate for the Free City, Roberto Torres, co-Consul in the former United Free Councils, and exposed the PoF’s main proposals. When asked by an anonymous citizen if the PoF was a post-delegationist party, Morais rejected the label, but said he was ‘thankful for the contribution post-delegationist though gave to the party’ especially the Party’s emphasis on personal responsibility, self-rule and radical decentralization, and even added, ‘when the Lusitanians voted favourably to the new Constitution, they consciously gave a step towards a society closer to the post-delegationist ideal, but not because of the theory itself, but because the Lusitanian tradition, neglected by centuries of centralized Government is a tradition of self-rule, responsibility and local autonomy – we just updated that tradition to modern days: if the State has no right in restricting the economic rights of its citizens, it has no right if it defines morality, that’s our thinking – we sympathize, a lot, with post-delegationism, but we know our thought has a different origin.’

The Free City of Braga is an important Council for the Party of Freedom, since it has a young population in an usually traditionalist setting, i.e., a population heavily influenced by the Northern right-wing leanings, but with more progressive thinking in moral issues, such as abortion, homosexual marriage and euthanasia, issues that Morais wants to discuss and make possible in the Republic as a whole. It’s a tough tactic, because the PoF loses a lot of Councils in the highly conservative Deep East, but Augusto Morais seems to be sticking to his guns and not hiding the Party’s official position.

The provisional Prime-Minister also talked about military issues, especially when questioned about the threat coming from the People’s Republic of Lusitania – “One of my projects for a Base Military Law is the creation of Council Militias, side to side with the Republican Army. They would provide training for their citizens, especially in the Councils located near the border, and would equip them for possible invasion – we believe that, when defending their home, their family, their neighbours, their land, people fight more efficiently than while serving the country, and if an invasion from the South is attempted, it will have to destroy us Council by Council – capturing Lumiar won’t be enough…”

Among the 108 Councils of the Republic, the PoF is predicted to aggregate the preference in about 30-40 Councils, facing fierce competition from the Liberals in the Northern Free Cities, the Social-Democrats in the southern cities and industrial councils (north and south) and the National-Democrats in the Deep East.

 

[Lusitania]

O Século​

Proposta de Isabel Tavares Promete Revolucionar a Saúde
Proposal From Isabel Tavares Promises to Revolutionize Healthcare


Isabel Tavares presented today in Lumiar the main flag of the Social-Democrats’ campaign – the New Atomized National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde Atomizado). According to Tavares, this ‘revolutionary idea’ would make all Councils keep their local health service, while being part of a larger network under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of State for Health. Tavares’ aim is to ‘cover all the Lusitanians with healthcare’.



The Social-Democratic Party’s campaign has started today in Lumiar, where Tavares spoke mainly about Healthcare, Education and Social Security, emphasizing the main ideological difference between the PSD and the Party of Freedom.

“We are absolutely enthusiastic with the new council-democracy model, and we ensured that it passed with a vast political consensus… But council-democracy does not imply absolute freedom of the Councils to do whatever they please. As the Councils are bound to the respect of certain inalienable rights – life, property, freedom of speech, etc, we only add the social rights all Lusitanians have. We cannot have a narrow-minded view of what ‘rights’ are. We possess both negative rights and positive rights – as we can object the State’s intervention, for instance, in the expression of our thought, we can also demand the State’s intervention in avoiding poverty and social exclusion. We have the right to demand minimal healthcare services, quality and free education and support for the bitter moments of our lives!”

After this introduction on social rights, Tavares explained one of the main proposals of the PSD – the atomized national healthcare service.

“The notion is not that difficult to apprehend – minimal health services must exist. We do not want the Councils to implement more or less intensive healthcare services by mere imposition from the State, no. That’s up to each Council. We only wish to guarantee to the Lusitanians that there are minimal health services they can rely on, to take care of the old, of the poor and the weak, and we would not certainly tolerate that one Council could virtually abolish healthcare services. And so, the atomized NHS would be the coordinative structure in which certain basic medical services and processes would have to be provided for free. From this premise, the Council could then choose to do it in whatever way it sees fit – medical insurance, direct providing of the services, among others – that’s what the PSD wants to show – that the new Council Democracy and social services are not indissociable.

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Isabel Tavares, leader of the PSD


The ANHS proposed by Isabel Tavares was praised by party colleagues and even opponents. Former Prime-Minister Frederico Saraiva, though an oppose to Council Democracy, sees in the ANHS ‘the only plausible way in which this council ‘democracy’ and a wide range of social rights can work’.

Of course, all of the right-wing parties criticized Tavares’ idea. Augusto Morais, from the Party of Freedom, insisted that ‘Councils are bound to the Constitution, and there it states that every Lusitanian has the right of emergency medical assistance, not free and total medical assistance. That is up to the Council’. Hugo Jonas, spokesman of the National-Democrats called the proposal ‘delusional and naïve’ and Manuel Garcia, President of the Liberal-Democrats, asked where would Tavares get the money to go forward with such a proposal.

At the time, polls show no clear victor, but show the possibility of a Congress and a Directory with a majority of right-wing members, though the PSD’s rates are steadily rising.

 

[Lusitania]

O Primeiro de Janeiro​

Amanhã, os Lusitanos Votam nas Eleições Concelhias
Tomorrow, the Lusitanians Vote in the Council Elections

Today, the campaign officially ended, and all Councils are preparing to vote for their own Council Assemblies and their representative in the Congress of the Republic. After a month of meetings, dinners, rallies and other campaign events, after a month of hard work by the party leaders at a national level and the party representatives in the Councils at the local level, the new democracy will be put to test. Will the Republic and its new model, after functioning as foreseen in the Constitution, prove to be truly democratic and efficient?

There are no more rallies, no more banners – the streets are now colourless and silent, as the Lusitanians prepare to vote. The polls reveal preference to the right, despite the gains the Social Democrats have made in recent polling. According to the most recent poll, the Party of Freedom will probably win 30% of the Councils, the National-Democrats and the Social-Democrats 27% each, the Liberal Democrats 15%, and the remainder 2% either to the Social Party or the Communist Party.

What does that mean? According to the new Constitution, the Directory, the new executive body, is a reflex of the Congress, and, as such, will probably feature 3 members of the Party of Freedom, 2 members of the Social-Democrats and the National-Democrats and 1 Liberal. That is, a clearly right-wing Directory, but also a socially progressive one, since with 3 Libertarians, 2 Social-Democrats and 1 Liberal, it could probably go forward with legislation relaxing abortion, homosexual marriage and drugs.
Let us wait until tomorrow, since only then can we know for certain what will be the future of our Republic.