Carlos Moedas says November 25 was the day democracy defeated extremism

The President of the Lisbon City Council (CML) said this Saturday that the celebration of November 25, 1975 is becoming “increasingly important,” stressing that “it was the day that democracy defeated extremism.”

“Celebrate November 25th because all dates have meaning. And this one, November 25th in particular, is becoming increasingly important. We are almost 50 years old since the end of the Salazar dictatorship. 50 years of April. But celebrating April is a holiday in itself. Incomplete exercise. Something was missing. What was missing was November 25,” said Carlos Moedas at a ceremony to mark the date at Lisbon Town Hall.

Carlos Moedas argued that “reviving the memory is what any mature democracy must do,” noting that “reviving the memory” of what has brought the country “this far is also the remembrance of November 25th” and, at the same time, , “the victory of democracy over any type of totalitarianism.”

Stating that he did not want a country without memory, Carlos Moedas recalled November 25 as the moment when he saw how the country was divided: between those who “wanted to take power by force and those who wanted a peaceful democratic transition.”

“The latter won, having their great representative in the person of the then Lieutenant Colonel Ramalho Eanes, to whom the country owes eternal gratitude,” emphasized the President of the Municipality of Lisbon.

According to the SDP mayor, November 25 meant “the victory of democracy over any type of totalitarianism” and “the victory of democracy over radicalism,” at a time when, in his words, “there were models of totalitarianism for every taste.” .

“This was not just a fantasy of some minds. In practice, it also corresponded to an energy project,” said Carlos Moedas, emphasizing that this “energy project could lead the Portuguese down a dangerous path of friction, conflict and… perhaps even civil war.” “

“These were times when military power intended to become a monopoly and the engine of political power. These were times when some wanted revolutionary legitimacy to replace electoral legitimacy. These were the times of agrarian reform, the nationalization of banking, insurance, parts of These were the times that destroyed so many companies throughout the country and led the country to economic collapse,” Moedas criticized.

The PSD mayor stressed that “all this is unthinkable today” for the Portuguese and that “if it is unthinkable, then we owe it to November 25, 1975.”

Carlos Moedas, however, warned of new dangers on the horizon, saying: “Today we see radicalism on the left and right attacking the moderates. There is a void captured by vocal minorities and radical activism. In the absence of activity from a moderate society that provides concrete answers, it is this radicalism that people cling to.”

Recalling the day when “democracy defeated extremism”, Carlos Moedas noted the heroes of that day, namely General Ramalho Eanes, Jaime Neves, Melo Antunes and all the soldiers of Group 9, praising “the moderate soldiers who knew how to interpret the will of the Portuguese people, who knew that the legitimacy of the vote is the only legitimacy that matters in a democracy.”

General Rocha Vieira also spoke at the ceremony, saying that the celebration of April 25 implies the celebration of November 25 and vice versa.

At the end of the solemn and memorable meeting on November 25, which was attended, among other public figures, by MEP and Vice-President of the PSD Political Committee Paulo Rangel, Carlos Moedas did not want to make a statement to journalists after recent disagreements in the PS in Lisbon accused the CML coalition of carrying out a “marketing” operations on November 25.

Instead, CDS MEP Nuno Melo took the opportunity to say that 25 November is “the date that unites democrats” and to criticize the current position of the PS towards this historical date, which in his opinion brought freedom and democracy to Portugal . after April 25 led to the fall of Estado Novo.

“We find it incredible that the PS or part of the PS would deny November 25, in which it also participated. When we think about November 25, we think about that famous rally in Fonte Luminosa, where Mario Soares and the moderate PS, together with the SDS, spoke out against extremism,” he criticized.

Nuno Melo said that he identified the reasons why the PS denies the events of November 25, starting with the fact that some socialist local and district leaders at the time of November 25, 1975 were on the side of PREC before evolving and joining the PS. .

Another reason, he said, is that in 2015 the PS “opened the door to the far left” with this ploy and today “does not feel comfortable celebrating November 25th.”

The third reason, he concluded, is that a completely new generation has appeared in the PS, which “has no left memory, neither political nor historical,” which devalues ​​the historical date when the PS was working.