The Azorean democracy, like all democracies around the world, corresponds to a political model of development. If the model is fair and universal, then it is good and everyone can identify with it. If, on the contrary, it is unfair and, worse still, does not treat everyone equally, then democracy is no longer democracy, but a mere facade or, worse still, its opposite. Azorean citizenship corresponds to the feelings of the people.

The promise after the Carnation Revolution, and especially with the Democratic Constitution of 1976, was that of a citizenship based on an archipelago of nine islands, on the aspirations for freedom and justice of its people, on their greater and better political participation, and on the establishment of solidarity among all islanders, agreed upon in a harmonious social evolution. Based on these constitutional ideas, the Azores are an autonomous region based on human dignity, solidarity among its islanders, equality among all, and the harmonious development of its entire island territory—per Articles 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, and 225 of the Portuguese Constitution.

Based on the above assumptions, we must conclude that there is, without any room for doubt, a gap between democracy and citizenship in the Azores. But it is a twofold gap: a positive Azorean democracy and a negative Azorean citizenship, or the opposite, which would be bad because both must be in harmony because one depends on the other. Still, the case of the Azores is that Azorean democracy is negative and Azorean citizenship is also negative. In theory and in practice, the assumptions of Azorean democracy have all been removed from the Political Statute: in 1998, two of the Azores’ population and historical centers of development disappeared, thus also removing any possibility of creating other bases for development in the two excluded islands and the remaining islands; in 2009, the principle of harmonious development of the archipelago disappeared. And all policies from then until now have been aimed at the complete concentration and centralization of all means of development on a single island.

In theory and in practice, the assumptions of Azorean citizenship have been removed from the Political Statute: with development based on a monopoly economy on a single island, all political manifestations of regional unity are gradually disappearing. When those who complain are labeled as parochial instead of being recognized for their freedom to dream and express their opinions, this further motivates the dark confusion of regional unity. The actions of partisan politicians contributed significantly to this state of politics against autonomy, some more than others, as exemplified by Carlos César and Sérgio Ávila on the PS side and José Boleeiro and Artur Lima on the PSD and CDS side, with one substantial difference: the former were the creators and builders of this apolitical monster against the Azorean people; the latter maintain and worsen certain elements every day and, worse still, show no signs of wanting to change. By the nature of things, those who really knew how to fulfill autonomy have fallen, and now there are few men of worth and many politicians of little value. Do not be offended by your ignorance and personal interests; you are what you are, period. This is the assessment that the islanders—violated—feel every day. How worthless are the men and politicians of the first decade of autonomy! The forest is falling over the years, and soon we will be barren land with no interest whatsoever! How can this huge mess be reconciled? Something has to happen.

Either it happens in the harmony of discussion, or the people will reject it in time. History provides examples of this. Why did June 6 happen? Don’t forget. What happened for centuries under state oppression since the famous “Better to die free than live in peace as subjects”? Don’t forget. What is happening today has never happened before: in conversations about autonomy and concentration on an island, people ask to speak quietly so that no one can hear. How strange! On an island, one businessman claims that he is not Azorean, that he is only from his island; another goes so far as to say that he is not Azorean. How strange!

We are getting used to it because this reality is quickly becoming ingrained in our blood. It is the reality that politicians do not want to hear because they receive honorary titles in exchange for our electoral powers, leaving the more serious responsibilities of governing for tomorrow. How can this huge mess be sorted out? We have to go back to the same thing: we really need a new system of government, with a regional political institution that can listen to people from all the islands every day and has the constitutional and electoral power to make sure there’s real political control—so that policies serve everyone, not just some people.

The existing model (although understandable in the early days of political autonomy) is contrary to the Constitution itself; it allows governments without effective political control, with only party control, and thus they govern themselves and the interests of a minority at the expense of the majority who ultimately sustain them.

This is exactly what the left wing of the 1975 Constituent Assembly predicted to the more political right wing, but the latter did not want to listen. Autonomy is being burned like volcanic earth: the Azorean land no longer bears fruit and the island’s water no longer sustains the trees; as Giordano Bruno would say, Azorean autonomy is no longer “land or water, it is mud.” (1) (1) 16th century, On the Infinite, the Universe, and the Worlds.

In Diário dos Açores, Paulo Viveiros-director.

*Arnaldo Ourique is a specialist in the Portuguese Constitution and the Azorean Autonomy.

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.