During the presentation of the Week of Cultural Diversity (21-27 May), the director of the High Commission for Migration and Ethnic Minorities (ACIME), Rui Marques, declared that “migrants must participate fully in democratic political life and become co-responsible for the future of the country”. He supported “the right to vote in administrative, legislative and presidential elections, for those who reside and work in Portugal”, and “the abolition of the application of the principle of reciprocity”. At the present time, in fact, some 50% of immigrants vote in Portuguese administrative elections only because they come from countries where Portuguese emigrants enjoy the same right. The Week organized by ACIME will include the award of the “Journalism for Tolerance” Prize, a workshop on “Intercultural Dialogue and Migration: the role of migrants”, the publication of a handbook “44 simple ideas to promote tolerance and celebrate diversity, which will be distributed by one of Portugal’s leading dailies, and the launch of the intercultural website Entre Kulturas, aimed at raising the awareness of the younger public. The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue will be celebrated in 2008; its slogan and source of inspiration will be a phrase of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa: “Be plural like the universe”.
