José Manuel Bolieiro’s coalition will complete 500 days in government in the middle of summer. Still far from halfway through its term, the balance sheet is discouraging. Far from the reformist impetus of the first government and with a completely disoriented opposition, populists are seizing yet another opportunity.

Here is a brief essay on the state of the region.

1. AUTONOMY AND POPULISM – If there is one lesson we should have learned from the history of Portuguese centralism, it is not to copy the vices and abuses of Terreiro do Paço.

Sacrificed for centuries by the imperial government in Lisbon, the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira won constitutional autonomy precisely to provide different, better, and more efficient responses to their populations, with the state assuming its national responsibilities in both regions.

Over the last 50 years, we have consolidated our own governments. Still, we have also adopted the central administrative model, resulting in a massive bureaucratic apparatus that hinders and hampers the lives of people and businesses, delaying strategic decisions that impede our development.

In addition, in the current situation, democratic autonomies face another challenge: curbing populism. They fulfilled their role when independence movements emerged, but extremism gains new strength when the autonomous system fails to meet its citizens’ needs.

Good autonomy is achieved through good governance, and if this fails, it opens the door to discourse of revolt, disillusionment, and populism. This phenomenon is widespread and risks taking root in the Azores, given our well-known social weaknesses. Extremism attracts hordes of illiterate people with a fragile culture who abhor critical thinking and knowledge. It is no coincidence that the main targets of populist leaders are universities and the most educated and free-thinking members of society.

Similarly, they exploit the most vulnerable to create a climate of fear around them. And what better argument for this prejudice than immigrants, those who take our jobs, drive down wages, and live off our taxes…

When democratic governments, traditional parties, and elected leaders fail to convey a clear message, take ineffective actions, and lack transparency, and instead rely on the conformity of citizens, they are fueling the growth of populism.

When, in the Azores, it is not possible to address chronic problems that have arisen over many years of autonomous governance, populists occupy the space of protest and begin to question the purpose of this autonomy.

Curbing this mistrust is only possible with effective governance, strong leadership, and increased political transparency.

Good governance means providing access to essential services, such as housing, health, and education, and continually innovating to meet the challenges people face in their lives.

International consultant Giuliano da Empoli is right when he places populist politicians and the new technological conquerors of networks and platforms in a union of forces that threatens the system: “chaos has become power.”

Escaping this chaos is the new challenge for the Autonomies. And this can only be achieved with good public responses to the people.

2. THE INERTIA OF THE COALITION – The first regional coalition government came in promising reforms to the system.

It made some, albeit timid, but then settled for less, made many strategic mistakes, and, perhaps because of this, failed to win an absolute majority after its short term in office.

The second government once again raised the flag of an ambitious program, but, after more than a year, it is once again mired in bureaucracy and slow decision-making on issues crucial to the region, appearing to manage rather than govern.

The permanent slippage in public accounts, the constant delays in payments, despite promises to the contrary, the slowness in privatizing Azores Airlines, the inability to resolve the obsolete maritime transport model, the lack of reinforcement of domestic air transport, the growing waiting lists in health care, the disorientation in the recovery of the HDES, the growth of drug addiction and homelessness, the chronic difficulty in accessing housing and the nonsense of blaming Local Accommodation (the only sector that still generates wealth on all the islands), the dangerous delays in the PRR, the lack of answers to strategic questions for the development of several islands, all of which add up to an open road for the growth of populism and the evident discouragement of the younger generations.

When a government invests (and very well) €230 million in the port of Flores, the largest public works project ever, and does not decide on other investments, of lesser value, in other islands with equal potential for growth and wealth creation, it reveals irrational criteria and a lack of collective strategy, which will only generate more unrest, more parochialism, and more voices calling for a return to the former districts.

The coalition needs to better explain the paths it is choosing and the main challenges it must embrace until the end of the legislative term.

The priority of revising the Regional Finance Law does not completely resolve the problems affecting people’s lives.

And it makes no sense to ask for national solidarity when, internally, we are not setting an example in containing spending.

A government that promised to reduce the number of public companies and, a few days ago, announced the creation of yet another Observatory (how many are there? What do they do? Who controls them?) and yet another institute is a terrible sign of public administration restraint.

Before revising the Regional Finance Law, the government should comply (none have done so to date) with Articles 17 and 20 thereof, which provide for the presentation of multi-annual budgetary programming tables, making regional accounts more transparent and clearer.

3. HOLIDAYS FOR REFLECTION – The coalition needs a holiday, not to rest, as there has been little work to do, but to reflect on how to act (and not react) for the rest of the legislative term, with new and demanding challenges ahead.

A new State Budget is coming, a new Regional Budget, local elections, and the final stretch of the PRR.

If we fail in all the challenges facing democratic parties, populism will be there to take advantage, once again, of popular demotivation.

It is important to return with our batteries fully recharged.

Have a good vacation!

Osvaldo Cabral is an emeritus journalist with over 40 years of experience covering the Azores. He was the director of RTP-A (the public television station) and the Diário dos Açores newspaper. He is a regular columnist for many newspapers throughout the Azpres and the Diaspora.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with insight into the diverse opinions on some of the archipelago’s key 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).