The Socialist Party of Portugal, the main opposition force, criticized this Sunday the "disproportionate" use of force by the Portuguese Police in the eviction of the housing camps in Porto and Lisbon, carried out during the early hours of the morning.
"We cannot remain indifferent after a protest that was said to be peaceful has ended this way," pointed out the socialist general secretary, José Luís Carneiro, in a statement to the media in Porto, reported by the Portuguese press.
Carneiro condemned the "incomprehensible" images of the police action and demanded from the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, a "full clarification" of what happened. He also criticized Montenegro's silence, whom he described as the "first and main responsible" for what occurred.
Meanwhile, the Left Bloc has condemned the "affront to democracy" that, in its opinion, the action of "police violence" represents. "Luís Montenegro has responded to the democratic and peaceful force of the streets with police violence, beating, chasing, and cornering," denounced the coordinator of the Bloc, José Manuel Pureza. "The only response to the uncontrolled housing crisis is cold repression," he added.
The ecologist and leftist party Livre has also lashed out against the police intervention, described as "absolutely unacceptable" in the face of a "peaceful demonstration." For the spokesperson of Livre, Isabel Mendes Lopes, it is a "planned violence that was deliberate."