Portugal has revealed itself as one of the countries in the world that, up to now, has most successfully managed the coronavirus-related health crisis. It presents a mortality rate per million inhabitants of 77 people and the recommended measures of confinement and cessation of non-essential activities were taken effectively and promptly. A success - if it is possible to speak of success in circumstances in which deaths occur - attributable not only to the responsibility of the Portuguese citizens, but also to their institutions and their political class.
Since the first contagions were detected, which arrived from abroad in early March, the Portuguese socialist government felt supported and supported by the conservative opposition parties, which has not meant at any time the absence of criticism by it. In a country with a healthcare system affected by the important adjustments resulting from the 2008 crisis and with a nursing home system similar to that of other southern European countries, all the opposition has adopted from the outset - even before The deceased began to appear — a critical attitude, but a clear and explicit limit: the need for unity around the Government to overcome a potential dramatic situation for the country.
In this context, he stresses that the first opposition party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD, center-right), has offered the Socialist Government its full cooperation without reservation. Its leader, Rui Rio, addressed the militants of his party to clearly explain the situation: "It is not patriotic to criticize the government at the moment," he said, adding that the loyalty expressed in Parliament is not a blank check. Far from raising any internal controversy, Rio's attitude has received praise that transcends the same borders of the Portuguese country.
And the same attitude, although with less media impact, have had other parties with parliamentary representation, both belonging to the right and the more radical left. But that does not mean that in Portugal - where the plenary sessions of the Assembly or the monitoring sessions of the Government have not been interrupted - it has meant the absence of debate, discrepancies and demands on the Executive of António Costa on issues as important as support to different business sectors, workers and social aid.
Epidemiologists will never know the effects of parliamentary and social tranquility on the spread of a virus, but this collaboration of all the Portuguese political groups, unions, business associations and institutions such as the Church manages to reduce the tension on social networks and, even more important, on the streets of the country.
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