Polls show Jardim set for new absolute majority

Despite his failing popularity this is hardly a surprise. The means he has at his disposal to campaign are overwhelming. 

Jardim controls the government-owned newspaper (jornal) which is totally biased and gives minimal coverage of opposition parties and none at all to the PND. The paper is financed to the tune of 4 million Euro a year and its 15000 copies are distributed for free throughout the island. The Jornal only carries (highly virulent) opinion pieces of Jardim's closest circle. 

There is no competition possible with this propaganda machine and the 'best' of it is: all this free publicity does not even eat in to the PSD campaign funds, its a a government funded newspaper! 

The other major scam is the use of official ceremonies as party rallies. 'With millions i hold inaugurations; with inaugurations I win elections', as Jardim succinctly put it. These usually involve the opening of  a new public work or private investment, where food and entertainment is provided and the local population is invited to hear Jardim's hallucinated rants against the opposition 'traitors', 'colonialists', 'foreigners' etc.  

Again, these events to not eat into his campaign budget since they are government or private funded.

Are these advantages legal? No, but state entities have up until recently turned a blind eye.  Had they ever obliged Jardim to compete on equal terms he would not have managed to stay 33 YEARS in POWER.

But the state entities are not alone to blame, for the larger opposition parties, despite moaning about the unfairness, have never seriously taken the matter up with the authorities or made a firm stand. This makes people wonder if they are deliberately playing to loose or are unwilling to take on Godzilla, head first. 

What are the clues?

Inconceivably, the Socialist Party, instead of pressing the authorities to oblige the Jornal to provide them with the opinion space they should be entitled to, is paying large sums for whole page adverts in the Diário (which does not even have such a big readership since it is not given out for free). Meanwhile, the CDS, while they complained to President Cavaco about the unfair use of the inaugurations, were themselves hosts to Jardim at a private inauguration during the last elections.