It should have been a moment for dual celebrations in Portugal as the 40th anniversary of democracy on Friday coincided with the end of the country's international bailout and its crippling conditions.
But with anger running high after years of economic austerity, many leaders of the 1974 revolt that brought down the Salazar dictatorship refused to join the festivities, saying the spirit of the revolution has been betrayed.
It is the third year running that key figures from the Carnation Revolution -- named after the flowers protesters placed in the military's guns during the peaceful uprising -- have decided to boycott the official celebrations.
Organising their own commemorations in Lisbon's Largo do Carmo square, the leaders are strongly opposed to the austerity politics embraced by the government in exchange for the international bailout of 78 billion euros ($108 billion).
Portugal is set to leave the three-year bailout programme on May 17 after a long period of wrenching cuts and economic recession.
"By happy coincidence, we commemorate this symbolic day at practically the same time that we end our economic aid programme," Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said.
But Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, one of the leaders of 1974's April Revolution said: "The government is about to sign the death warrant of the 25 April. It is scared of criticism from the people of the April revolution."
The former Socialist president, Mario Soares, now 89, who is considered one of the fathers of democracy in the country, also stayed away from the official celebrations.
The president of the Assembly, Assuncao Esteves, suggested they would not be missed.
"If they don't want to come, that is their problem," she said.
It was on the morning of April 25, 1974 that soldiers, joined by a popular resistance movement, toppled a dictatorship that lasted from 1926 under Antonio de Oliveira Salazar and from 1968 under Marcelo Caetano.
Portugal flourished after the revolution, with improved education and a thriving economy, but over the years, debt also surged, going from 15 to 129 per cent of GDP.
In 2011, the country had to be bailed out by international creditors including the IMF and the EU, which obliged Lisbon to make tough spending cuts and other austerity measures in return for emergency financial assistance.
It should have been a moment for dual celebrations in Portugal as the 40th anniversary of democracy on Friday coincided with the end of the country’s international bailout and its crippling conditions.
But with anger running high after years of economic austerity, many leaders of the 1974 revolt that brought down the Salazar dictatorship refused to join the festivities, saying the spirit of the revolution has been betrayed.
It is the third year running that key figures from the Carnation Revolution — named after the flowers protesters placed in the military’s guns during the peaceful uprising — have decided to boycott the official celebrations.
Organising their own commemorations in Lisbon’s Largo do Carmo square, the leaders are strongly opposed to the austerity politics embraced by the government in exchange for the international bailout of 78 billion euros ($108 billion).
Portugal is set to leave the three-year bailout programme on May 17 after a long period of wrenching cuts and economic recession.
“By happy coincidence, we commemorate this symbolic day at practically the same time that we end our economic aid programme,” Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said.
But Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, one of the leaders of 1974’s April Revolution said: “The government is about to sign the death warrant of the 25 April. It is scared of criticism from the people of the April revolution.”
The former Socialist president, Mario Soares, now 89, who is considered one of the fathers of democracy in the country, also stayed away from the official celebrations.
The president of the Assembly, Assuncao Esteves, suggested they would not be missed.
“If they don’t want to come, that is their problem,” she said.
It was on the morning of April 25, 1974 that soldiers, joined by a popular resistance movement, toppled a dictatorship that lasted from 1926 under Antonio de Oliveira Salazar and from 1968 under Marcelo Caetano.
Portugal flourished after the revolution, with improved education and a thriving economy, but over the years, debt also surged, going from 15 to 129 per cent of GDP.
In 2011, the country had to be bailed out by international creditors including the IMF and the EU, which obliged Lisbon to make tough spending cuts and other austerity measures in return for emergency financial assistance.
