Now that the final results of the May 18 elections are known, it is time to examine the causes and consequences of the storm that swept through the Azores, particularly in São Miguel. After listening to the speeches of the two main regional leaders on election night, we were left with the impression that they did not understand what had happened. The defeated candidate justified himself with the classic “let’s reflect,” and the victor saw “unequivocal” reinforcement of his political project, even though he had just lost more than 5,000 votes in the regional total, most of them—about 3,000—in São Miguel. Miguel, practically the same number that separates him from the Chega vote on the island where elections are won, and which gave a “cry of revolt” from one end to the other. I believe that José Manuel Bolieiro and Francisco César returned to their offices the next day as if nothing unusual had happened. Here is another film to help understand the signs that night brought us.

1. TIRED OF ELECTIONS – One of the great failures of current politics is the expeditious way in which leaders decide to create instability, in the name of their personal or party strategies, without thinking about the rest of the country. We have already had four national elections in seven years (with two European elections in between, two regional elections, and two municipal elections), without many voters understanding why they are called to the polls so often. Only Bulgaria is worse than us. These mini-government cycles only generate more instability, discredit institutions, and cause electoral annoyance. It is the perfect environment for generating anger and resentment towards politicians and the system, which is unconditional fuel for populists. As a result, this destabilizing agenda also finds its way into the newsrooms of news channels, eager to voraciously exploit drama and tragedy in the form of random and agreed-upon commentary, in the poorest journalism produced in Portugal.

2. THE PROTEST OF THE AZOREANS – This whole atmosphere of national tension has widespread repercussions in the Azores. The election results in the region, particularly in São Miguel, clearly demonstrate the citizens’ revolt against the traditional parties, which, campaign after campaign, fail to understand the real problems facing families. The Azores, especially in rural areas, are experiencing a very serious issue of social breakdown, aggravated by the galloping increase in the cost of living and the increasingly slow and inefficient public response to social needs such as access to health care (constant increase in waiting lists, slowness in the recovery of the HDES and the mess with the modular system), housing prices that are not in line with low family incomes, and the growing difficulty in getting children into higher education. Tourism has been the biggest driver of our economy. Still, it has also brought the downside of huge demand, with prices rising every month for food, restaurants, and housing, in an inflationary spiral that residents cannot keep up with (the basket of goods and services analyzed by the CPI is about 2.19% more expensive in the first quarter of this year than at the same time last year, according to the SREA). It is no coincidence that, according to a national study, supermarkets are less crowded and the main products sold are generic brands. These concrete problems were not mentioned in the election campaign. When a family goes to an official department, as has already happened here, to register for a housing support program and is told that they do not meet the requirements because they have too few children, it ignites a spark of revolt that spreads throughout the neighborhood and to other family members. Across these islands, a climate of mistrust is beginning to take hold, sometimes hidden, towards public responses, which always arrive late, in fits and starts, and almost as a favor. Ask people on the smaller islands what they think about access to healthcare, about trips to hospitals that are fraught with bureaucracy and sometimes without timely seats on planes, about delays in seeing specialists and surgeries that are years behind schedule. Ask about the delays in cargo ships and the shameless way in which maritime operators maneuver this outdated model, doing whatever they want, with the inexplicable connivance of the public authorities. The sea of lamentations then translates into electoral protest.

3. THE CASE OF S. MIGUEL – The election results in S. Miguel are a disaster waiting to happen for the PS, but also a powerful punch in the stomach for the governing coalition. Suppose José Manuel Bolieiro and his partners ignore the signs that have swept across the island. In that case, it is more than certain that, sooner or later, they will end up being ‘swallowed up’ like the PS, which will take years to recover because it has been unable to read the reality of the archipelago for a long time. Chega-Açores, for now, is a group of five friends who run for everything because they have no staff. On the day that the Azorean elite begin to lose their shame, like the voters, things will get even worse. The signs are all there, in the streets, in urban centers, and in rural parishes, which are rarely visited by politicians. It is striking how many beggars we encounter on the streets of São Miguel, how many young people are openly addicted to synthetic drugs in city parks and parking lots, how the suicide rate has skyrocketed again, how many requests for social assistance are being made to local authorities and community centers, not to mention the much-discussed ‘shameful poverty’, which only those who live in rural parishes know the severity of. Young couples who cannot find housing and others who emigrate as skilled labor after university are another phenomenon that has been given little importance. The results of emigration are a testament to the discontent of those who leave. People view the political system with suspicion, believing that politicians primarily address their own problems and those of their political constituents while ignoring the public’s responses to the concerns of ordinary citizens, who often fail to see the profound political reforms promised in election campaigns. There is a perception of lethargy on the part of the coalition government during this legislative period. The coalition, which started with enthusiasm, has fallen asleep and, in the last year, has remained in hibernation. No structural work or substantive measures are known in this legislature, with many regional secretaries lending themselves to disappointment. There are structural projects gathering dust in drawers and others that are dragging on under the excuse of “working groups.” The coalition needs to listen more to its mayors and those responsible for local social institutions, who manage social situations daily and are closer to the people. There is criticism of government officials who are closed off in their offices, and we are often unaware of who the regional directors are. There is an inexplicable slowness in decisions, procedures, and measures that should be taken promptly but are dragging on without justification, to the outrage of many sectors of society. Perhaps the shock of May 18 will awaken the coalition.

4. THE SILENT REVOLT – The dizzying cycle that the parties are creating with successive elections, without bringing anything new to improve people’s lives, is fueling the atmosphere of irritation that is taking hold of the population. This disenchantment also has to do with a generation of politicians who are the least well-prepared ever. Many came straight from the youth wings of their parties to full-time militancy, without ever having worked or experienced the day-to-day problems of families and businesses. This is not just our problem. Abroad, we are also witnessing a decadent generation of leaders who lack the passion to mobilize citizens. The silent revolt that is taking hold among voters is not reflected in the polls, and populists are capitalizing on this environment. The reformist spirit we were promised has vanished, and people have grown tired. Regional governments, in this half-century of autonomy, have not been doctrinaire, but pragmatic and unreformist, always living based on electoral cycles. However, the electoral base has shifted, and the new generations are more restless and are willing to go to the polls to express their discontent with the lack of results. It is therefore urgent to listen more to the people. The regional parliament, located in the city of Horta, should have an obligation to visit the region’s parishes annually. If politicians—governors, deputies, and party leaders—were closer to the people (not just those in urban areas), they would better understand why voters are rebelling. Many think the population is docile, but when it comes to voting, docility has another name, leaving those in office in shock. Get used to it, because it will get worse if you remain comfortably seated.

Osvaldo Cabral was the Executive Director of the newspaper Diário dos Açores. He was also the Director of the regional television network RTO-A, and a distinguished journalist for many years.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers, writers, and editorial boards from the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with a sense of the significant opinions 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).