A Matter of Pride

Basking in the euphoria of the country's first free election in half a century, tens of thousands of Portuguese workers took advantage of the brilliant spring sunshine to celebrate May Day in Lisbon's huge outdoor May 1st Stadium. Loudspeakers blared, military helicopters chuffed overhead dropping red carnations, and election posters were plastered on every available inch of wall space. To a casual observer, it might have seemed as if the election had not yet taken place. Not so. It was just that after 49 years of repression--and months of intense politicking--no one could resist one more political show.

There was reason enough to celebrate. The election for a constituent assembly had come off with impressive decorum, unmarred by violence or corruption. The Portuguese could also take pride in the fact that an astonishing 92% of the electorate had turned out to give an overwhelming victory to the moderates. The final tally gave Mario Soares' Socialists the lion's share--38% of the vote and 115 seats in the 247-member assembly. In second place were the middle-reading Popular Democrats, with 26% and 80 seats, while the Communists trailed a poor third, with only 12.5% and 30 seats. The Communist-allied Democratic Movement won 4% and 5 seats, and the conservative Center Social Democrats 8% and 16 seats.

A few radicals within the Armed Forces Movement tried to play down the significance of the election, but an official military broadcast declared that the armed forces intended to carry out the "national objectives set by the political powers." Otherwise there were few post election recriminations. The Communists sought to minimize their poor showing by calling the vote "a victory for the left." Soares, who was dragged out of bed the night after the election by enthusiastic followers to head a procession through Lisbon streets, would have none of that. The Communists, he said, had suffered "a crushing defeat. Something went wrong, very wrong for them." The impressive vote for his party, Soares added, meant that the voters want "socialism with prudence."

Prudence, in fact, will probably prove Soares' wisest course in the immediate future. He is expected to come under pressure from some M.F.A. radicals to form a coalition with the Communists rather than the Popular Democrats. To head off such an attempt, some observers believe he will try to form a triple alliance between the three parties. Nonetheless, the vote was expected to trim the sails of M.F.A. militants. "My guess is that we are in for a period of relative quiet," said a leading M.F.A. moderate last week. "When the elections were over, you could almost hear the sigh of relief within the M.F.A."

Sense of Relief. Throughout Western Europe there was also a sense of relief. Officials in Bonn and London said they would redouble their efforts within the European Community to mount a multilateral aid program to assist the hard-pressed Portuguese economy. The moderates' victory was interpreted as vindication of Europe's "soft line" to Lisbon's leftward tilt. Said one British official: "I dread to think what would have been the results of the elections if [Secretary of State Henry] Kissinger had been allowed to apply his special brand of Realpolitik--probably 50 Communist deputies." Kissinger refused comment on the grounds that the election was an "internal matter," but privately U.S. officials said they were pleased by the outcome.

To a large extent, political stability in Portugal will depend on the government's skill in solving the country's economic problems. Unemployment has been aggravated by the return of thousands of troops from the former Portuguese colonies in Africa, and another dismal tourist season like last year's could prove disastrous. Moreover, both Soares and Communist Party Chief Alvaro Cunhal recently stressed in interviews with TIME that the biggest problem will be to find the experienced personnel to run the newly nationalized industries. "We don't want to substitute state capitalism for a monopolistic one," said Soares. "That creates a new bureaucracy as in the Eastern [European] countries."

New Constitution. Meanwhile, Soares and other party leaders began preparations for the constituent assembly that will meet later this month to frame a new constitution. Beyond the fact that the parties have already agreed to military supervision for the next few years, the type of government is yet to be decided. The Socialists favor something along the lines of the French model, with a president elected every five years; the Popular Democrats have come out for a Swedish-style democracy, with a council of ministers responsible to a legislature. The Communists have not yet indicated their preference. One way or another, though, the voters have been promised elections for a legislative body next fall--and if the April 25 election is any indication, they have every intention of holding the military to that promise.

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