Portugal swings to the right and braces itself for increased austerity

The pendulum swung even further to the right than predicted. It was the lowest turnout for the Sociatists of any general election in Portugal since 1987.

The number of abstentions yesterday was greater than the number of people who voted for the winning Social Democratic Party (PSD).

Abstentions totalled more than 40%. With less than 39% of the vote, the centre-right PSD will be able to form a government with an absolute majority in coalition with their traditional partners, the conservative CDS, who finished with nearly 12%.

Former Prime Minister José Sócrates stood down as leader of the Socialists who finished with just 28% having won the previous two elections, in 2005 and 2009.

The PSD leader Pedro Passos Coelho now has the task of overseeing tough, wide-reaching and highly unpopular reforms as laid down by the EU and the IMF in return for a three-year €78 billion bailout. Unpopular with the ordinary people, all the main parties supported the international rescue package.

Lower living standards and even greater hardships in one of western Europe poorest countries are now on their way. Tax hikes and welfare cuts are expected. It will be easier to hire and fire workers. And the EU/IMF are insisting on a raft of other measures which will plunge the country into recession for two years.

The new government has a clear mandate to impose this greater austerity. The Social Democrats will have 105 deputies in the 230-seat Parliament compared with 73 Socialists. The CDU will have 24.

Pedro Passos Coelho said last night his government would do everything in its power to overcome the great difficulties facing the country and not be a financial burden on Europe.


In the Algarve, the PSD won 37% compared with the Socialists' 23%. Of the nine Algarve deputies in the next parliament, four will be PSD, two Socialist and one each from the CDS, BE and Communist parties.

A general election devoid of joy

Disillusioned by politicians in general and knowing that hard economic times lie ahead whoever wins, Portuguese voters will go to the polls in Sunday's national election with little enthusiasm.

The new government will have little room to manoeuvre. It will have no choice but to abide by the EU/IMF bailout reform rules.

The most likely election result will be a coalition government formed by the centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) and the third strongest party, the conservative CDS. Opinion polls indicate the Social Democrats led by Pedro Passos Coelho will win more votes than the Socialists but not enough to be able to govern on their own.

The possibility of an inconclusive result fermenting a coalition involving the Socialists under former Prime Minister José Socrates is not being ruled out. It was the collapse of the minority Socialist government amid financial turmoil in March that led to this election.

Whatever the make-up of the new government, its main task will be to implement the tough and wide-ranging reforms demanded by the EU/IMF rescue package. These include increased taxes, deep cuts in spending and greater competitiveness.

In the election campaigning, none of the parties have been able to raise customary hopes of a better future. There is a strong perception that corruption, wealth and power, supported by a deeply flawed justice system, have brought this country to the verge of bankruptcy. 

The Bank of Portugal is on record as saying economic hardship will be particularly severe over the next two years. The young in particular are feeling deeply frustrated and are reportedly leaving the country in droves. Further strikes and street demonstrations can be expected in the weeks ahead.

Whatever the outcome this Sunday, there is unlikely to be much rejoicing in the land. 

Conman Ken on the run in the sun

A wily Welshman by the name of Kenner Elias Jones, a much convicted conman according to the BBC, is now believed to be operating in Portugal.

Charged with stealing thousands of pounds from an employer in the UK, Jones absconded from a crown court before his trial in the UK eight years ago. He has been on the run ever since.

Already convicted more than 60 times for theft, forgery and fraud, Jones has allegedly cheated several companies in Portugal.

Previously deported from Canada and the United States, he is wanted in Kenya where he is alleged to have debts of more than 100,000 dollars. He is said to have posed as a doctor in Kenya and to have administered medicines to children, even though he had no medical qualifications. It is claimed he also posed as a priest.

BBC Wales tracked him to Portugal and interviewed a travel agent in Palmela, south of Lisbon, who claimed Jones did not pay for tickets obtained for his family to join him in this country.

BCC Wales believe he is living in the capital but, of course, it is possible he has moved south to the Algarve and is trying to continue his 40-year criminal career here. 


For more, including images of Jones:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/uk-wales-13607280 

Government issues statement on crime control in tourist areas of the Algarve

 Portugal's Ministry of Internal Administration says the forces of law and order are paying full attention to security in the Algarve and particularly in its most popular beach resort of Albufeira.

In a statement issued yesterday, the ministry says all reasonable measures are being taken to prevent and fight crime. It also points out that crime rates in this country are among the lowest in the EU and that crime in the Algarve region is decreasing.

The statement comes in the wake of alleged attacks on three holidaymakers, two fatal. Police are continuing to investigate the incidents in the Montechoro area of Albufeira. A gang of youths is suspected of involvement.

The internal affairs ministry says there was a slight decrease in crime in general and violent crime in particular in 2010 compared with the previous year. The drop has been much more marked in the first quarter of this year. Serious and violent crime was down 21.7%, and the number of robberies dropped by 20%. In the Albufeira municipality, there were 21.5% fewer violent crimes in 2010 than in 2009 and 9.7% fewer in the first quarter of this year.

Two thousand new police officers are being groomed for the various forces, a new security arrangement now links private home alarm systems to police stations and tighter border controls are in place. The statement emphasises that police presence, visibility and operational activity is being stepped up in popular tourist areas of the Algarve.

Meanwhile, police investigations continue into the death last month of a Scottish soldier, Darren Lackie, 22, and the stabbing of a holidaymaker from Dublin, David Hoban, 44. Police are also investigating the death of a tourist from the northeast of England, Ian Haggath, 50, who was brutally attacked a fortnight ago and has since died.

A spokesman for Britain's foreign office said yesterday it had made "a very minor" change to its travel advice to alert holidaymakers about street crime in the Algarve.

Tourists warned to be vigilant following street attacks in Albufeira

Portuguese police say they are still investigating recent street attacks on holidaymakers that have prompted the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to amend its travel advice to tourists coming to Portugal.

Ian Haggath, 50, from Dunston, near Gateshead in the northeast of England, was ferociously attacked and left unconscious in a pool of blood in Albufeira a fortnight ago. He suffered serious head injuries and died in hospital last Wednesday. 

Described as "mild-mannered and friendly", Mr Haggath was attacked while walking back to his hotel in the early hours of the morning. It is thought he may have been the victim of a gang of youths.

There is speculation the same gang may have been responsible for the death in March of a British soldier, Darren Lackie, 22, from Cupar, Fife, and the non-fatal stabbing of an Irish tourist, David Hoban, 44, from Dublin.

A few minutes before Mr Haggath was set upon, another tourist is said to have been taunted, abused and had stones thrown at him by a gang of four.

Police initially treated Mr Lackie's death as the result of a drunken fall but a fresh inquiry was launched when medical reports showed he had not been drinking heavily. His father, Graham, is convinced his son was killed in an unprovoked assault.

All three men were attacked in the Montechoro area of Albufeira, popular because of its is restaurants, bars and clubs.

About 1.6 million Britons travel to Portugal each year. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office says that the number of violent attacks in Portugal is low but that there is still a need to take care. It has revised its travel guidance to Britons and warned them to remain alert at all times. 

A Polícia Judiciária spokeswoman told me today there was as yet no clear evidence the same gang carried out the three attacks but that investigations were continuing.   


The incidents are causing considerable concern within the Algarve. 

Elidérico Viegas, president of the Algarve's largest hotels' association, blamed the recent rise in violence on the government's failure to properly address the needs of a region whose economy is based on tourism.  

Portuguese police fully co-operating with Scotland Yard on McCann case

The Portuguese criminal investigation police today confirmed they are fully committed to co-operating with the Metropolitan Police review of the Madeleine McCann case and to re-opening the investigation if the Met come up with credible new evidence.

The National Assistant Director of the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), Pedro do Carmo, told me: “We are in contact with the Metropolitan Police. They have informed us what they want to do, to recheck the files. Our colleagues in the UK are fully aware of our commitment and interest in trying to solve this case, to know what happened that night. At this point we have talked and we have a very open relationship. Let's see what comes next.”

The PJ investigation was shelved in July 2008, but Pedro do Carmo made it clear it would be re-opened if the Met comes up with sufficient grounds for doing so. But, he cautioned, "one step at a time. Let's see what happens."

Reports in Portugal at the weekend suggested that not all PJ officers feel at ease with Scotland Yard's involvement. Some are hostile to it, saying they believe the PJ did everything possible to solve the mystery of Madeleine's disappearance and that their professionalism is now being called into question. “The British policemen are not better than our own,” was one sentiment quoted in the Portuguese press.

There has been strong criticism in the UK and within the Metropolitan Police Authority itself of Scotland Yard's involvement.

Criticism aside, the way seems open for a thorough re-examination of the case so far.   

“No limits” on review of Madeleine McCann case says Met Police chief

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson says Scotland Yard is putting no limits on its review of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, reports the Leicester Mercury, a newspaper published in the English county where Madeleine was born and Kate and Gerry still live.     

The paper quotes Sir Paul as saying his force's re-examination of the case would be a "significant piece of work" that could produce recommendations about new lines of inquiry.

"We are not putting any limits on it at this moment in time," he said. "We have no time scales yet because we haven't produced the scoping. It will be a significant piece of work."

He said Scotland Yard's international reputation made it easier for his officers, compared with those of other organisations, to "open doors".

"Sometimes we need to remind ourselves this is about a vulnerable missing child," he said. "I am a professional police officer, and when you get a request to do something about a vulnerable missing child, you should take that request very seriously.

"And then you get into negotiations about, is it right that we do it? Can we bring added value to it? And if we can bring added value to it, what is the right circumstance to allow us to do it to make sure that we are making the best use of the operation resources here and giving a fair return to Londoners?"

While Sir Paul believes it is "the right thing to do," critics claim the review, which will be funded by Britain's Home Office, has diverted resources from other crime victims and is giving special attention to the McCanns not available to the families of many other British persons missing abroad.

Madeleine's parents were in Lisbon this week to publicise the Portuguese edition of Kate McCann's book. Asked about her decision to write and have the book published, Kate McCann told the Sic television channel: “I always wanted to, to write down the truth, really, for my three children, and I guess the reason, or the trigger reason why I actually, why it became a book and why it was published, is because we have to fund the search for Madeleine. And the fund was running low, so we needed to raise the money.”

Gonçalo Amaral, the former coordinator of the Portuguese police investigation, says he welcomes the Met's involvement, but he is bluntly critical of Kate McCann's book, claiming it is offensive to "Portuguese justice, the Polícia Judiciária, those who have searched for her daughter, the Portuguese people in general and the people of the Algarve in particular.”