To the north of Lisbon in Portugal is a suburban town called Loures. There in Loures, a young member of the Socialist Party decided to base his campaign for mayor on the fact that the town needed a metro line. So he organized a race between a Ferrari and a donkey. The donkey won, but he lost. In the next election, he did it again, this time between a cycle and a Porsche. The cycle won and Antonio Costa became a mayor of Loures. This was 1993. Now, 22 years later Costa is the prime minister of Portugal.
The winners of those races, who beat out far more faster opponents on the crowded streets of Loures, probably set the stage for Costa’s eventual rise through the ranks of the Socialist Party. But that is not the reason why Goa celebrates this man’s rise to the top. It celebrates it because Antonio ‘Babush’ Costa has his roots in Margao, where his father, a poet and playwright, walked the streets. He later moved to Portugal and married a journalist.
Costa’s first major defiance was choosing the Socialist party despite his father’s Communist thinking. Today, that defiance will probably help him as he steers his way through the murky waters of recession in once glorious Portugal. Not to say that the country has lost its sheen, but there is a matter of economic uncertainty to handle.
After weeks of political turmoil, Costa and his alliance of far left parties, have now taken charge of Portugal but there is a lot to be done. The biggest change that has to be made is to the austerity measures that have crippled the nation. Granted, under those austerity measures, unemployment went from 17.5 percent to 12 percent and the economy has started to grow slowly, with a rise of 1.5 percent compared to the previous year.
The coalition will have to obey commitments to the EU budget rules, with the Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva making it quite clear in this meeting with Costa before announcing that he was now prime minister. President Silva asked him to stick to the six governing principles, of which maintaining a tight budget and strengthening the banking system were paramount. Costa will have to stick to public spending limits, but needs to increase wage bills and disposable income, unblock pensions and reduce the high service tax. The Portuguese have been crippled by austerity measures and the Socialist government will have to walk a fine line between keeping to certain conditions but also strengthening the country’s economy.
There have been many questions about Antonio Costa’s intentions for the state where he was born. Goans are hoping for better relations between India and Portugal and sorting out many other issues, including the Portuguese passport and citizenship problems. But Costa has to first guide his country through this period of economic upheaval and make sure his fellow Portuguese can live and breathe better, before he turns to the land of his ancestors.
In Loures, the donkey and the cycle may have been slow but they eventually won the race. Costa will have to base his journey as prime minister on this fundamentals, to see Portugal reclaim its glorious crown.
