My president !

21st of August 2017

Yesterday I was watching the TV here in Portugal. In fact not the Portuguese TV but that does not matter.

They were showing the gathering in Spain, in Barcelona. The beautiful church was packed and outside there were also people. More than 30 nationalities are among those affected, included Portuguese people.

The Spanish king was there and the Portuguese president. We saw when my president was greeted by the king and his queen.

Here in Portugal we have had a really bad year with more fires and more deaths than ever. The arsonists are having a blast. The TV shows from morning to night the fires and the madmen enjoy being stars. The criminals are all ages. I think the oldest one so far is a 78 years old woman.

We have a new president in Portugal. He is powerless. That’s how the system works here. The prime minister is the one with all the power. Until 1973 there was a dictatorship in Portugal , but now we have a democracy. A young democracy. Everything is still in formation towards democracy. Slowly one step at a time, but we are on the track.

Our last president was distant. We complain about how much running the presidency costs .

I don´t know it the cost had gone down with our new one. What I know is that everything is different.

My new president is human. He showed that during the big fires in Pedrógao Grande and through out the summer. I have never met him but this picture is from the TV when there was a minutes silence through the country after Pedrógao fires. He is the one standing between the woman and the man in the west. That is my president.

My president hugs people and cries with them. He had tears in his eyes at the memorial in Spain where he sat next to the king. He has shed many tears during this summer in different villages in my country. He has given hugs and comfort to the firefighters, to the families who lost their loved ones, to the people in the small villages and everyone appreciates his effort.

I am proud of my president. I know he does not have any power but he is different, and he might be able to whisper into the prime ministers ears, some good ideas. We don´t know, but I hope he can. That is how he might be able to help the country developing into a great democracy.

I am grateful from my president. He is humble and he understands. He is not afraid of shoving empathy.

Hulda Björnsdóttir