In the Popular Assemblies held by ‘right to housing’ protestors in Lisbon and Porto this evening, votes were taken on whether or not to return to camping in the squares of D. Pedro IV (Lisbon) and D. João 1 (Porto) – and the result was a ‘yes’.
How this will pan out is unclear, as the Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves, stated earlier today that the PSP will act “preemptively” at housing demonstrations that disobey orders to move on after half-past midnight.
“The PSP, the security forces, have full operational autonomy to act in the best possible way, in order to anticipate events,” he told reporters.
Asked how the PSP will act in response to gatherings that are appearing in several cities across the country, Neves said only that acting preemptively means not allowing things to escalate.
“I want to say the following: nobody, myself included, no member of the government is happy with any act of violence.”
The Movement for Housing – Porto Encampment had announced a two-day break from the protests, while the Housing Encampment in Lisbon left the decision until this evening’s Popular Assembly.
According to reports, several activities are scheduled through the evening, including dinner, musical performances and cinema.
What will happen if and when people start pitching tents again is what media organisations filming events are waiting to find out.
Source: SIC Notícias
Natasha Donn
Journalist for the Portugal Resident.