The Election in Portugal
MOWRER, RICHARD SCOTT
Despite obstacles, the opposition vote was impressive Election in Portugal By Richard Scott Mowrer Lisbon The outcome of Portugal's June 8 Presidential election was never in doubt. The...
...The Government allows only a 30-day period for campaigning...
...Only one political party is permitted, Dr...
...Experienced observers here concede that in a fair election the contest would have been very close...
...This is essential because it is up to the candidates to mail the ballots to the voters...
...Theoretically, during the campaign censorship is lifted...
...Delgado's representatives were consistently denied free access to the names and addresses of registered voters...
...But somehow nearly the entire press tended to overlook the speeches of the opposition candidates and devoted much space to Tomas...
...On three occasions they raided Delgado's legally constituted election quarters...
...Salazar's National Union...
...Ever-growing corruption, he savs...
...The Portuguese dictatorship came in through a military coup d'etat on May 28, 1926...
...General Delgado pledged the voters democratic rule...
...Since political parties—except the National Union—are illegal the rest of the time, the party in power enjoys a long head start over the opposition—in this instance 32 years...
...Police interference...
...On two occasions they prevented him from touring northern Portugal...
...Official obstructionism...
...Confident of victory, the National Union announced that Tomas, 63, felt no need to present a program, "since this would open the way to useless and senseless discussion...
...Somehow, too, Delgado was never able to speak on the radio...
...He was supported by liberal democrats, some elements in the armed forces, dissidents within the regime and the economically oppressed...
...Antonio de Oliveira Salazar's "discreet dictatorship...
...Censorship...
...Another opposition candidate for the seven-year Presidential term was a lawyer, Arlindo Vincente, representing the democratic left...
...Moreover, it was the first contested election under Salazar...
...This dynamic, ambitious Air Force officer participated in the 1926 coup d'etat as a young second lieutenant...
...General Delgado's ballots were not made available to him for distribution until three days before election...
...Except in the case of religious bodies, the latter is usually withheld...
...The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic...
...combined with travel abroad "which revealed to me that it is possible to have order and progress without resorting to dictatorship...
...It climaxed the least inhibited campaign in 32 years of dictatorship...
...The political police (PIDE) made it a point to photograph those attending rallies sponsored by anti-Government candidates...
...Army interference...
...and the opposition, despite huge handicaps, won an impressive 25 per cent of the vote...
...But Delgado survived this hazard, probably because he obviously enjoyed popular support...
...He is 69...
...He dropped out several days before the election in favor of Delgado, but the police prevented him from actively supporting Delgado by immediately closing down his election headquarters and branch offices...
...The sensational feature of this election was that for the first time a Presidential candidate came out and said that, if elected, he would fire Salazar...
...Here are some of the obstacles General Delgado faced: Time limit...
...The man who said this is General Humberto Delgado, 53, an "independent" candidate...
...What caused him to turn against the regime...
...It was expected that, just prior to election day, the Government would exercise its right to disqualify the opposition candidates...
...Article 8 of the Portuguese Constitution (a product of the Salazar era) guarantees freedom of assembly and expression, freedom of religion and habeas corpus, but these basic freedoms are nullified by decree laws which supercede Article 8. Press censorship is stringent, open criticism of the Government is not tolerated, freedom to associate requires official approval...
...But the election should not be shrugged off...
...Salazar became Prime Minister in 1932 and has held the post ever since...
...There was only one program, it said: to carry out the terms of the Constitution...
...He has represented Portugal at NATO and was military attache in Washington from 1952 to 1957...
...Defense Minister Colonel Fernando dos Santos Costa publicly told the military: "All the armed forces will vote for Rear Admiral Tomas...
...On June 4 they arrested three top members of his election committee in Porto on the pretext that they were responsible for "rioting and unrest...
...Where access was finally permitted, officials disallowed the making of photostatic copies, and the names and addresses had to be copied by hand—a hopeless task when it is considered that in Porto, for instance, the register fills 40 volumes...
...If the elections had been free, says Delgado, he would have polled 80 per cent of the vote...
...The counting of the votes was unfair, too, since the law does not permit the opposition to have observers on hand...
...The Government candidate, Rear Admiral Americo Tomas, was certain to win, thus insuring the life of Dr...
...In other words, continue the Salazar regime...
Vol. 41 • June 1958 • No. 24
