Old leaders still leading the new?

There is a saying in my country; “Vanhassa vara parempi” that is freely translated “you’ll be secured with the old” but I wonder if that’s the case with politics? As a foreigner, watching the news and reading news papers, there is something shining out from the portuguese political field that really strikes me. You see, in a peculiar and weird way this country seems to want to hear the opinions of previous presidents or PM’s. I must say, I don’t know many European countries with a similar desire. Think about it; do you see or hear Sarcozy analyzing Hollande or Mr Blair insisting David Cameron to do otherwise.

Better yet,  do we hear George Bush advising Obama on any level?  No, we don’t.

In northern scandinavian  countries you normally do not see this at all.

However, in the portuguese media the old seem to know better. They seem to still fight for their party. Let’s take an example; former Portuguese President Mario Soares who was in office during 1986-1996.  Seems to know it all,- when it comes to modern technicalities of the current political field as often he expresses his points of view to the public. My questions is... Really? With all respect, as he is almost 90 years old. I wonder doesn’t he seem more of a burden than a beneficial aid to his party?

Or Mr. Socrates, who is now highly civilized after pursuing studies in France (after he lost the previous elections in 2011) and regularly comments on RTP his ideas about the current government. 

Final example; Mrs. Manuela Feirreira Leite, who has announced all the things she would have done differently as a PSD leader. So I ask, how does this favor the social democrats?

I have to say, I am in awe of the socialist frontier of politics as i don’t see how they benefit from it. With no offense, butwe all know that the world is a bit different than it was in post-cold-war frontier and it has even changed from the last 2 years when socrates admitted game over loss. 

Where I come from, if you are smart you stay out of it as there are simply new facts you can not know, state secrets you see. Thus, maintain one’s legitimacy. It makes you wonder if the previous politicians just hold the parties back instead of leading them on to a future.