Hammers Yes, Sickles No

For three precarious weeks after the ouster of Marxist Premier Vasco dos Santos Goncalves, the radical general who appeared to be leading Portugal toward Communist dictatorship, his successor had tried to weld Portugal's disparate political factions into a functioning government. While the Armed Forces Movement pressed for inclusion of all major parties in the new Cabinet, Premier-designate Jose Pinheiro de Azevedo faced conflicting demands from those very parties. Not unreasonably, the Socialists and Popular Democrats wanted their Cabinet strength to reflect the 38% and 26% of the popular vote they took, respectively, in last April's elections. But the Communists, who received only 12.5% of the vote, demanded at least as many Cabinet portfolios as the Popular Democrats.

Last week the Communists abruptly gave up that demand, evidently because they did not want to be blamed for prolonging the political deadlock that has paralyzed government administration in Portugal since July. That cleared the way for Pinheiro de Azevedo to be sworn in along with a new, strikingly moderate Cabinet--the sixth provisional government since the revolution began 17 months ago. Military men were awarded four Cabinet posts, civilian independents three. The remainder were apportioned according to the April election results: four to Socialists, two to Popular Democrats, one to a Communist. The critical Foreign Ministry went to Major Ernesto Melo Antunes, a moderate Marxist--in Portuguese terms--who helped engineer the rapid decolonization in Africa and recently led armed forces opposition to Goncalves' pell-mell radicalism.

At least as important as the new Cabinet was a simultaneous overhaul last week of the military's Revolutionary Council, which has been, and will remain, the final arbiter of Portugal's revolution. For the first time, the members of the Council--now trimmed to 19--were elected by separate plenary meetings of the country's military branches instead of being chosen by partisan cabals maneuvering in the background. Only three members, all navy officers, openly favor the Communists.

Pinheiro de Azevedo, the new Premier and recent navy chief of staff, has been a leader in the Revolutionary Council since its inception. No stranger to political intrigue, the Angola-born admiral has had a role in a number of military conspiracies against the Salazar regime and its successor. In the April 1974 revolution, he commanded the radical navy fusiliers, who seized control of the secret police headquarters in Lisbon. More recently, as an emissary to NATO, he has been talking like a moderate, arguing that Portugal must remain within the European defense force.

In a television address the week before his new government came to power, Pinheiro de Azevedo pledged to preserve "the gains made by the revolution" and to continue to build a socialist Portugal. But he also promised a "democratic pluralism" that he pointedly said would extend to the news media--a slap at the Communist unions that use the state-owned radio, TV and newspapers to spout the party line. Despite their token representation in the Cabinet, the Communists eye the new regime with scarcely veiled hostility. Party Leader Alvaro Cunhal told cheering followers in Lisbon's Campo Pequeno bull ring that if the government should move too far to the right, "we will join battle."

Apart from the Communists, the new government faces monumental problems, including a 30% inflation rate, an ever-rising population of Angolan refugees and--perhaps worst of all--a general collapse of public morale. "We must show the people something practical being done," said Vasco Vieira de Almeida, a prominent independent politician. "They must see housing and hospitals being built. They must hear the sound of hammers every morning."

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