Political Silly Season

So the political silly season is upon us with the government off on holiday leaving 81 year old Mário Soares as the distraction. It is ludicrous for the Socialists to put him forward as a candidate for a third presidential term. Even Soares can't stand up to Cavaco Silva if he chooses to run, which he probably will once autumn polls confirm his lead.

The problem is finding a Socialist candidate prepared to accept certain defeat. My choice would be António Vitorino, for a credible contest. At least he made a good showing in Brussels. Soares in Strasbourg is hardly headline news. Give him a dignified retirement and save us the embarrassment of watching a tired campaign by one of Portuguese democracy's founding fathers.

Saldanha Sanches, the well known economist and tax expert, continued with his informed and relevant opinions on Thursday night on SIC Noticias.

Irrespective of the real reason for the Finance Minister's resignation, no self-respecting economist can support the government's plans to invest billions in Ota airport and the TGV. His argument is based on profitability. What is the Country's return on those huge investments? Where are the viabilty studies to justify the capital invested.

Even if we discount the capital investment as a short-term contribution to increased employment and to fill the coffers of the powerful construction lobby, will the business activities be able to break even? That argument appears to favour the airport over the TGV.

Unfortunately, time did not allow Saldanha Sanches to develop his ideas to propose "profitable" investments, assuming there are any; he suggested investments to increase exports to improve the balance of payments deficit.

As Portugal's greatest assets are its climate and location, those investments should be in quality tourism, following Spain's lead perhaps, to eliminate the mediocre and make prices more competitive.

Quality Journalism

Carmona Rodrigues presented his election manifesto for (re-)election as mayor of Lisbon yesterday.

According to RTPN, he declared himself against the new Lisbon airport. They then showed a clip of his news conference to support that assertion, where he actually said that he was against the closure of the current Lisbon airport at Portela.

The construction of alternative airport facilities does not necessarily imply closure of Portela, as I noted in Ota Airport. Why should the RTP journalist choose to mis-quote Carmona Rodrigues? It's probably just the journalistic habit of creating sensation out of nothing, opposing a PSD candidate to the PS government's recent statements. That's a habit we can do without.

SIC Notícias quoted him correctly this morning - congratulations are in order.

London Bombings

Nobody can be indifferent to the bombings this week in London. Once again faceless, misguided fanatics choose to kill and maim at random.

Such actions only serve to harden the resolve of the decision takers. The British public will react similarly. I had to go to London on the night of the Harrods bombing by the IRA. The mood that night and the day after was one of determination not to let terrorists change our way of life, our routines. There was no panic, just as this week.

In the UK, the bombs will make little difference. The British people will continue to support its government despite lies and spin. Unfortunately, there is no credible alternative to New Labour since Labour moved to occupy the Liberal Democrats' place in the political spectrum, pushing them and the Conservatives further to the right.

At least Tony Blair has admitted some of his mistakes, unlike the idiot in the White House who only this week continued to connect Saddam Hussein and Al Quaeda.

Our hearts go out to the families of the dead and wounded, chosen arbitrarily from among the millions of people of all nationalities who use London's public transport each day.

Ota Airport

So, the Government's going ahead with investment in the new airport, regardless of the size of the deficit. Must be to create the jobs promised in their election manifesto.

Shame that the new jobs are only likely to reduce unemployment in the Ukraine and Africa.

Wouldn't it be easier (cheaper and quicker) to create a terminal to receive charter flights at the military airport in Montijo?

It will never be possible to close Portela airport in Lisbon. Imagine Spanish or German businessmen flying in for a meeting and spending an hour in a taxi to get from Ota to Lisbon.

Couldn't be any vested interests involved here, could there?

Helping the Victims

According to SIC Notícias, victims who go to Portuguese police stations will be attended in private rooms, to avoid having to lay bare their ordeal in front of all other people waiting for attention.

Hopefully this concept will be extended to other public services, such as the tax offices, so that people who are victims of the poorly functioning systems and badly trained staff could be saved the ordeal of discussing their private life in front of the waiting throng.

Somehow I think not.....

Cascais motorway roadworks

How can Brisa justify charging to use the A5 motorway beyond Carcavelos? Doesn't the toll paid imply some minimum level of service?

Portugal Telecom - get real

Got a call from Portugal Telecom at the office today. "Can we do a telephone survey of customer satisfaction. It only takes half an hour"! They have got to be joking! 30 minutes to help PT improve its monopoly! Maybe I have nothing better to do during working hours.

We only use them because, until recently, we couldn't get fixed line rental from anywhere else and now it's major hassle to change.

As you would expect from a fixed line operator, the quality of service is fine, but monopoly power comes to the fore when they price that service.

This monopoly serves nobody but the Board of Directors and their politician masters.

Formula One Farce

Just when F1 was starting to get interesting again, Michelin causes this disaster.

I'd given up watching F1 due to years of Ferrari domination, and was just getting back into it. Don't the teams have contractual obligations? As a sponsor, I'd be seriously angry. Somebody should expect to be sued - hopefully Michelin.

Though not a Ferrari fan, I can't help but support their position. Imagine the reaction of the other teams if the tyre problem was Bridgestone's.

Congratulations to Tiago Monteiro. It's good to see dedication pay off, even in these circumstances.

Lusoponte and Via Verde

Once again, Lusoponte has changed the toll booths on the 25 Abril bridge that accept Via Verde, keeping customers guessing as to the best one to use. Why can't they put their differences with Via Verde aside, in the interests of customer service?

Surely the advantageous VAT rate Lusoponte has on its tolls is more than sufficient to make up for the loss involved in paying Via Verde for its service.