The Central Committee of the PCP, meeting on March 17, 2025, analysed the international and national situation and decided on immediate measures of intervention and struggle in the current political framework.

I International situation

1. As stressed in the communiqué issued by the Central Committee of the PCP on February 8 and 9, the recent developments in the international situation are taking place in a context marked by the structural crisis of capitalism and by the exploitative and aggressive offensive of imperialism, which aims to counter the relative decline of the United States of America (USA), as well as of the other capitalist powers of the G7, and to safeguard its hegemonic dominance, in the face of the continuing resistance and struggle of the workers and peoples and of a broad process of rearrangement of forces at world level.

2. In the US, the Trump administration, with its highly reactionary agenda, is adopting anti-social and anti-democratic measures at home and, abroad it is increasing military, commercial and financial decisions, pressures and blackmail in order to arrogantly impose the interests of US imperialism.

The measures and positions adopted by the Trump administration - highlighting differences and rifts within the US ruling class, as well as contradictions with the other G7 imperialist powers - are an expression of the crisis facing the main imperialist power. Measures and positions that continue and heighten the policy of exploitation and social injustice at the service of the economic and financial groups, as well as imperialism's strategy of confrontation, interference and aggression, with its threat to peace, sovereignty and the rights of the peoples.

The current tactical repositioning of US imperialism, particularly with regard to the war in Ukraine, has nothing to do with a vision of peace and cooperation between peoples. It is a reorientation of its foreign policy, which aims to respond to the growing difficulties experienced by the US at home and abroad and which, while continuing to try to impose its interests and dictates on the world, seeks to create the conditions that will enable it to focus its efforts on the policy of confrontation with China, seen as its main strategic adversary.

The US is pushing for an even greater increase in military spending and the arms race - of which it is the main beneficiary - relying on the alignment of the other imperialist powers, NATO and the European Union, which has long sought to form a new political and military bloc complementary to NATO.

3. Particularly serious is the insistence by the European imperialist powers and EU bodies, shared by forces ranging from social democracy to the most reactionary right-wing, on confrontation and war, on escalating militarism and exacerbating warmongering propaganda.

Constraints imposed decades ago within the framework of the EU through the Stability Pact - such as the limits on the deficit and debt, which have served as a pretext for restricting public investment and social rights - are set aside to encourage spending on arms and war, at the expense of states' public resources and indebtedness, and to promote the “war economy”, while refusing to respond to the pressing problems affecting workers and peoples.

Faced with the evidence of its contradictions and the profound difficulties it is facing, the EU's headlong flight forward is expressed in its efforts to prolong the war in Ukraine, in the stirring up of false external threats, in the thwarting of any possibility of dialogue that could pave the way for a political solution to the conflict and the guarantee of peace and collective security in Europe.

4. Portugal must not be an instrument at the service of US, NATO or EU interests, with the serious consequences that this entails, including the damage and risks that arise from binding the country to their dangerous warmongering strategy. Portugal must position itself at European and international level in compliance with the principles of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, safeguarding its sovereignty and national independence, developing diversified external relations, contributing to peace, disarmament and collective security, promoting cooperation and friendship with the peoples of the world.

5. The construction of a just and lasting peace demands that the causes of the conflict in Eastern Europe be taken into account and that the US, NATO and the EU put an end to their strategy of fomenting and prolonging the war. It demands that negotiating channels be opened as a matter of urgency in order to achieve a political solution to the conflict, a response to the problems of collective security and disarmament in Europe and the fulfilment of the principles of the UN Charter and the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference.

Condemning Israel's non-compliance with the agreement reached with the Palestinian resistance, the re-imposition of the criminal blockade on the Gaza Strip and the continuation of the massacre of the Palestinian people by Israel, with the complicity and support of the US and the EU, the Central Committee of the PCP calls for solidarity with the Palestinian people, demands a permanent ceasefire, unconditional access to humanitarian aid and the creation of the State of Palestine in accordance with UN resolutions.

Condemning the massacres and crimes against the people of Syria, the Central Committee of the PCP calls for solidarity with the patriotic and progressive Syrian people and forces who are resisting the violence, abuses and arbitrariness of a reactionary and obscurantist power and are fighting for a sovereign, democratic and secular Syrian Arab Republic, in which all people, regardless of their ethnicity or religious beliefs, can live together in peace.

Demanding an end to the blockade imposed by the US against Cuba and its Revolution, the Central Committee of the PCP calls for solidarity with the struggle of the Cuban people in defence of their sovereignty and right to development.

Expressing its solidarity with the peoples who resist and fight for their rights and sovereignty, the Central Committee of the PCP calls for the development of the struggle for peace and internationalist solidarity.

II National situation

1. The Country is marked by a situation in which monopoly capital dominates almost all spheres of national life, with the continuation of decades of right-wing politics and the promotion and dissemination of reactionary and anti-democratic conceptions, where the problems of the workers, the people and the Country are worsening, which makes it necessary to break with this path and pave the way to an alternative, patriotic and left-wing policy.

2. Eleven months of action by the PSD/CDS government, with which Chega and IL converge, have worsened and accumulated problems and resulted in a further deterioration of the social and economic situation and the discrediting of national political life. A government determined to implement a policy that serves the interests of the economic groups and multinationals, heightening exploitation, injustice and inequality, subject to the impositions of the EU and imperialism, dragging Portugal into dangerous warmongering projects and ambitions. These are the essential reasons that have brought the Country to a situation of instability and political and institutional crisis, but above all, of deteriorating living conditions faced by the workers and the people, in contrast to the colossal profits of the economic and financial groups.

3. The most recent political and institutional developments - arising from the debate on the motion of censure and the rejection of the motion of confidence - are inseparable from the situation to which the government and its policy have led the Country. The succession of facts involving the Prime Minister and other members of the government, the legitimate doubts raised about incompatibilities between the exercise of public functions and private interests, coupled with a policy and options guided by the class nature of this government and right-wing politics, with what it translates as promiscuity between political and economic power and the worsening of the country's problems, are the immediate reason for an outcome that has led to the inevitable dismissal of the government, with the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic and the calling of early elections.

The PCP's initiative to table a motion of censure portrayed its determination to halt the progressive political deterioration and the agenda of regression and attacks on rights and was a contribution to clarify the political life. A clear and courageous attitude, not dictated by calculated and false oppositionist stances, which contrasts with that of the PS which, while essentially sharing the government's options, chose to join the right in voting against the PCP's motion of censure, as it had done before in enabling the government's programme and the State Budget, in refusing the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the privatisation of ANA, in reducing Corporate Tax (IRC) for economic groups or in the so-called Land Law. This position was taken to the limit by the PS in the process of debating the motion of confidence, insisting on its withdrawal and pledging not to pass motions of censure, which would guarantee the continuation of the government's actions until the end of the legislature in 2028, reflecting fundamental choices that the final vote does not erase.

In addition to the practices, facts and events involving the government, what marked its action was the choice to turn every problem into an opportunity to favour economic groups, accompanied by intense propaganda. The choice of a policy of low wages and pensions, attacks on rights, the deterioration of public services, particularly with the attack on the National Health Service and Public Schools, the promotion of real estate speculation, fiscal injustice, low public investment, limitations on the productive apparatus and the promotion of privatisations.

An action that, besides what has been done in terms of setbacks and the destruction of rights, was also dangerous because of what it was preparing to carry out. Projects already announced for the assault on Social Security, to place its resources in the hands of financial funds and the rights of workers subject to speculation, for new setbacks in labour legislation, giving even more guarantees and conditions of exploitation to the big bosses, for the consummation of the economic crime which is the privatisation of TAP, as part of a wider privatisation plan, to a new step in the strategy to destroy the NHS, with the announcement of PPPs aimed at handing over five hospitals and 174 primary healthcare units to private groups, are all revealing examples of an agenda that had to be stopped and must be defeated.

4. This policy, regardless of who carries it out, is ineffectual. The situation the Country has reached calls for the mobilisation of the workers and the people, the strengthening of their organisation and struggle, before the elections, during the elections and after them.

The last few years, which add up to decades of right-wing politics, are proof that it's not enough to defeat the governments at the service of big capital. We need to defeat this policy and pave the way for an alternative policy.

The right-wing policy has the PSD, CDS, Chega and IL as protagonists on duty, and relies on the PS to support its essential choices in promoting the interests of the economic groups.

The Central Committee of the PCP reaffirms that what is needed is the construction of a path that opens up perspectives for a Portugal with a future, that it is in the hands of the workers and the people, of everyone who aspires to a better life, with the the elections on May 18 being an opportunity, to give more strength to the CDU, to achieve the alternative policy that the country needs. A path that also requires the strengthening of action and struggle, the expansion of the convergence of democrats and patriots and the affirmation of the PCP as an indispensable force.

In the course of action and struggle that will continue through the commitment of all those who aspire to a life and a Country of progress, the elections on May 18 can, and must, be an opportunity for this affirmation, giving more strength to the CDU and to the alternative policy that the Country needs.

The CDU is the force that embodies an alternative patriotic and left-wing policy, at the service of the aspirations and rights of the workers and the people, with a programme for economic and social development, an unequivocal choice to combat foreign submission and the defence of national sovereignty.

The CDU is the strength of the workers, which does not yield to the interests of the economic groups, which does not hesitate when it comes to choosing between Labour and Capital, in the defence and valorisation of rights and wages.

The CDU is the true opposition to the right and its policies, which does not betray the confidence of those who aspire to a left-wing policy, which refuses to give a hand to the right, its objectives and projects.

The CDU is the guarantee of the courage, determination and coherence to confront and combat reactionary forces and projects, the extreme right and fascist, racist and xenophobic conceptions, which in all circumstances is decisive in defending freedom and democracy, the democratic regime and the Constitution of the Republic.

The CDU is the force of peace and cooperation against the promotion and involvement of the Country in the strategy of confrontation and war, with the diversion to the arms race of public resources that are needed for wages, public services or housing.

The CDU is a guarantee of intervention to restore to national political life criteria of seriousness and honesty in the exercise of public functions and positions, dictated by ethical principles and the rejection of promiscuity between political and economic power.

The CDU is the force committed to the project and values of April and its achievements, with what they open up in terms of justice, equality and development.

5. The broader struggle to confront and denounce right-wing politics and retrograde, anti-democratic agendas, and to build a political alternative, must be taken up by the workers and the people, by democrats and patriots, in the elections and beyond.

With the country in the situation it has reached, the essential issue is the need for an alternative policy and a patriotic, left-wing alternative, inseparable from the defence of the democratic regime and compliance with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. A policy that increases wages and pensions, valorises careers and working conditions, fights precariousness and unregulated work, defends public services, the NHS, Public Schools and Social Security, guarantees the right to housing and culture, upholds the rights of children and parents, recovers instruments of sovereignty and public control of strategic sectors, promotes fiscal justice, national production, economic planning, scientific and technological development, guarantees access to justice and fights corruption, ensures ecological balance and environmental preservation, supports small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and farmers, affirms independence, national development, peace and cooperation.

III Organisation, struggle, electoral action and strengthening the Party

1. The current situation requires the Party to take the initiative in political intervention, in the mass struggle, in strengthening unitary organisations, in involving democrats and patriots in electoral battles and in strengthening the Party.

2. The next few months will witness several electoral battles which, with their demands and particularities, are important moments for intervention, mobilisation and political clarification, which will require the commitment and action of Party activists and many other democrats. The set of elections planned, despite taking place at different times, require adequate preparation and coordination, safeguarding the specificity of each one and taking advantage of the potential arising from the broad mass work that will be carried out.

The complex moment facing the workers and the people is marked by ideological conditioning, government propaganda, the blackmail and resources of capital, the dissimulation of the PS, the action of reactionary forces, the distortion and silencing of the intervention of communists. Faced with this, the coherence, courage, initiative and work carried out by the CDU, as well as its deep connection to the workers and the people, are factors that contribute to face the coming elections with confidence.

First of all, the early elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, scheduled for March 23, are an opportunity to return the CDU to the Regional Parliament and thus give voice to the problems and aspirations of the region's workers and people.

The elections to the Assembly of the Republic, scheduled for May 18, are an important moment to strengthen the CDU and in this way contribute to fighting the interests of big capital in Parliament and beyond, resisting and advancing in the conquest of rights, halting and breaking with decades of right-wing politics and paving the way for a, patriotic and left-wing political alternative, which the Country has needed for so long.

With the elections for local government scheduled for next autumn, which are also in a phase of accelerated preparation, they are an opportunity to give more strength to a recognised heritage of work, honesty and competence, to a distinctive project for improving living conditions at local level. With the aim of guaranteeing the presence of municipal candidacies throughout the country and in as many parishes as possible, the CDU is constituting itself as a broad unitary and popular front, asserting itself as a space for democratic realisation, convergence and participation, with a project, work and distinctive values that the Country needs.

Elections for the President of the Republic are also foreseen for early 2026, in which the PCP will make its own intervention on how it sees and defends the exercise of the functions of the President of the Republic and how it will contribute to ensuring respect for and compliance with the Constitution of the Republic. A specific intervention that will not fail to contrast and combat reactionary and anti-democratic candidates and projects and to affirm the values of April.

3.The situation demands that Party and JCP militants and organisations take the initiative in boosting the mass struggle, a decisive factor in changing the national situation. Highlighting the workers’ struggles in companies and on the streets and the commemorations of International Women's Day on March 8, the actions scheduled for National Student Day on March 24, the national demonstration of young workers on March 28, the national day of struggle “More wages and better pensions, defend public services and the social functions of the state”, to be held on April 5 with demonstrations in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra called by the CGTP-IN, the popular celebrations of 25th. April and the actions of the day of struggle on May Day, International Workers’ Day.

4. The Central Committee of the PCP stresses the intense and diversified action carried out on the problems of the workers, the people and the Country, namely the initiatives on workers' rights, women's rights, the NHS, Social Security, mobility and transport, the National Action “Increase Wages and Pensions. For a better life”, the dynamization of the CDU, the strengthening of the Party, the commemorations of the Party's 104th. anniversary, in particular the big rallies in Lisbon and Porto.

In view of the worsening economic and social problems, it is essential to add to the important work in the run-up to the elections the continuation of the work of the Party organisations on: the problems of the workers and the people; boosting the struggle; the popular celebrations of the 51st. anniversary of the April Revolution; of May Day; the commemorations of the Party's anniversary; the centenary of Carlos Paredes; the 5th. Centenary of Luís de Camões; the 80th. anniversary of the victory over Nazi-fascism; and the preparation of the Avante! Festival which will take place on September 5, 6 and 7.

The Central Committee of the PCP emphasises the need, in association with political intervention, for mass action and electoral work, to promote the strengthening of the Party. In order to implement the conclusions of the XXII Congress, urgent measures must be taken to make cadres at all levels responsible for regular tasks and to respond to the multiple demands of the political battles underway, as a key element in the development of the general movement to strengthen leadership and structuring, recruitment, political and ideological preparation, militancy, the means of propaganda, the press and financial independence.

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At a complex moment in national and international life, the PCP, with its track record of intervention at the service of the people and the Country, faces with determination and confidence the challenges of the struggle for a patriotic and left-wing policy, for an advanced democracy with the values of April in Portugal's future, for socialism and communism.