A Free Socialist Portugal

WHEN THE ARMED Forces Movement led the coup last April 25 that ousted Premier Marcello Caetano and marked the end of 46 years of fascist rule in Portugal, the prospects for a fire Portugal looked good. At the time, General Antonio de Spinola disbanded the terrorist secret police, and promised the people a free press and free elections within a year. In the wake of a right-wing coup March 11, allegedly led by Spinola, it seemed that the people's hopes that swelled last year were imperiled. For a time, elections were delayed and the High Council of the Revolution refused to allow three parties-two of them on the extreme left-to participate.

Friday's election-the first including parties banned in Portugal for over 50 years-has allayed any fears of unfulfilled promises for free elections. The conditions set for the election may not, however, mark the pursuit of the people's will in Portugal. For the major participating parties had to-agree to recognize the continued presence of the High Council of the Revolution for from three to five years and the "irrevocable" transformation of Portugal into a socialist society.

But the participation of 91 per cent of those eligible to vote signals support for the High Council and for a socialist state. And the Socialist Pary's strong support-with 38 per cent of the vote as opposed to 26 per cent for the centrist Popular Democrats and 12 per cent for the Communist Party-will probably ensure that Portugal's transformation will be a careful one.

In an address to the Portuguese people not long ago, the new premier. Vasco dos Santos Goncalves a member of the High Council, told them that "hard times" lie ahead. While Goncalve's assessment may be true, not only for Portugal's economic situation, but for its delicate political transformation-constantly threatened by the return of an entrenched fascism that no coup could have eradicated in one year-Portugal's elections come as a welcome sign. They provide an example for those countries around the world laboring under the illusion of egalitarianism, an example of a Freely chosen Socialist state.