Thanks to the marvelous technologies we use these days, we have once again been able to follow the work of the Azorean parliament. We make this effort several times out of duty and out of a sense of citizenship. The cell phone and the full transmission of the sessions – an excellent initiative by the parliament – allow us to follow the proceedings even while driving or in other environments where this possibility did not exist not so many years ago. We are now regular “attendees” of our parliament’s sessions. Virtual regulars, that is.
What we hear repeatedly suggests – and this is our opinion – that the parliament of our Autonomy should be the subject of a profound reflection extended to Azorean society. It’s obvious to us that democracy must be parliamentary – but it’s also obvious that the usual bragging that what happens in Horta reflects Azorean society is beginning to sound like a bad paymaster’s excuse. First, because the average level of discourse has little to do with the people of the Azores. The Azoreans don’t see themselves in how many Assemblymembers express themselves. To confuse the Azoreans with such language is an offense to our people. Next, it is urgent to understand what politics is, just as it is urgent to know what a parliament is for in the House of Autonomy. The level of language combined with an idea of “politics” and not “Politics” and an absolute ignorance of the role of a parliament – such a culture is deadly for democracy itself. Of course, some Assmblymembers are excluded from this mix – but they are few, to the misfortune of the Azores.
Why reflect on this issue now? Because we are not – as far as we can tell – in the middle of parliamentary elections, it will be possible to think without the pressure of making lists and recruiting chieftains or pseudo-chieftains who are supposed to be able to attract votes. During this time, collective madness takes hold of the parties, and any rationality is removed even from the most respected leaders who don’t fit into the broth presented here. So, possibly three and a half years in advance, it might be possible to think about this issue with some coolness and without sticking our heads in the sand.
It seems to us that the issue is existential for Autonomy itself. Before the people get fed up with a governmental body that costs fifteen million euros a year and where we hear the most nonsensical things – and where glyphosate is treated like… perhaps the best French champagne, the good stuff.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various newspaper editorials, columnists, thinkers, and writers from the Azores to give the diaspora and those interested in the current Azores a sense of the significant opinions from various spectrums on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL)