Rise Up (Portuguese: Ergue-te, E), originally the National Renewal Party (Portuguese: Partido Nacional Renovador, PNR) is a Portuguese far-right[1][2][3][4][5]nationalist political party. Its motto is Nation and Work (Portuguese: Nação e Trabalho) and one of its goals consists in the appreciation of a Portuguese nationalist spirit. Its president is, since December 2024, Rui Fonseca e Castro, who succeeded José Pinto Coelho in the party's leadership.[6]
The party results legally from the alteration of statutes approved in the VII Nacional Convention of the old Democratic Renewal Party (PRD) requested on March 17, 2000 and validated by the Constitutional Court on April 12, 2000. This change implicated in the change of name, acronym and logo. In a report published by the North American NGOGPAHE against hate and extremism, Ergue-te was classified, along with ADN and Chega, as a hate and far-right group.[7]
History
In the 2005 legislative election, the then PNR obtained just under 0.2% of the vote, failing to elect any deputies to Parliament by a wide margin. In the 2009 European election, the party had about 13,000 votes, having 0.37% of the vote, the party had its higher results in the districts of Lisbon and Setúbal. An increase of just over 50% in comparison to 2011 was seen in 2015, the year the party most increased in votes, having received 27,269 votes in the legislative elections.
In July 10, 2020, wanting to change its public image and undo misconceptions arising from the confusion between the acronyms PNR and PDR —the former Republican Democratic Party (Portuguese: Partido Democrático Republicano), now named National Democratic Alternative—, it changed its name to Ergue-te, with the acronym E, this alteration was accepted and registered by the Constitutional Court following deliberation taken by the National Council of PNR in November 23, 2019.[8]
Since the beginning of 2006, it has tried recruiting young students at secondary schools and in universities. This situation has drawn the authorities' attention, which sent a report to the Ministries of Education and Internal Administration. According to the report, even though the PNR was a legalized party at the time, there was a real risk of transmitting xenophobic ideas to young people, which would allegedly promote violence.[12] The Youth's leader confirmed this recruitment, refuting, however, the transmission of messages with a criminal or violent nature to young people.[13]
After the name change in 2020, the party youth was renamed "Lover's Lane" (Ala dos Namorados), inspired by the right-wing of the Portuguese army in the Battle of Aljubarrota.[14]
E has been involved in many controversies. In 2006, it got involved in the demonstration by security forces agents against the government. The Diário de Notícias article about the participation of the then PNR reads:
"It was total chaos. It had been almost 120 minutes from the set time for the beginning of the parade by the security force agents against the government policies when the organizers arrived at the Marquis of Pombal Square to warn that, after all, there wasn't going to be a demonstration. With the argument that the PSP, GNR, Maritime Police and Foreigners and Border Services agents refused to "parade next to neonazis" (and PNR representatives) that had gathered there to participate. And with fear that there was going to be conflicts between both sides. The decision by the organizers - the Permanent Coordinating Committee of Unions and Associations of Security Forces and Services - enraged the agents of many task forces. The protests increased in tone, confusion arose and, all of a sudden, when they least expected it, the security forces agents passed over the organizer's decision and started their parade. The Coordinating Committee had lost control over the situation. The parade was, indeed, done, until Terreiro do Paço, where the Ministry of Internal Affairs was. There, the agents demanded changes in the health system, retirement and better work conditions. The far-right militants, after having had a stage to talk to the media started to disperse, seeing groups here and there along the parade. But they didn't follow the demonstration behind the police forces."[15]
Criminal controversies
Some of its members were convicted of racial discrimination and violent crimes, among others, the murder of a PSR leader (José Carvalho) and the racially motivated murder of Alcindo Monteiro,[16] after being linked to right-wing armed groups such as the National Front and Portuguese Hammerskins. However, the way these groups act had led to a distancing by the then PNR towards said groups.[17][18] As a result, the former Portuguese Hammerskins leader Mário Machado has decided to try to create a new party, the New Social Order.[19]
Notes and references
^da Costa, José Mourão (2011). "O Partido Nacional Renovador: a novadireita na democracia portuguesa". Análise Social. 46 (201): 765–787. JSTOR41494872.
^de, Almeida, Fábio Chang (2014). "A direita radical no Portugual democrático : os rumos após a revolução dos cravos (1974–2012)". Doctoral Thesis. hdl:10183/114413.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ abObservador. "PNR faz simulação de decapitações em frente ao Palácio de Belém". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 18 August 2024. The protest has the name 'Islam, here, no' and a party publication in a social media platform reads: Following another wave of attacks in the European continent, PNR did this Saturday, a protest action against Europe's Islamization (...).
