Votes for expats!

Dear Editor
In light of the fact that many of us here are now no longer allowed to vote in elections in UK due to the 15-year disenfranchisement rule, I wondered whether anyone else here is keen to start a push for “votes for expats in Portugal”?
We’re meant to be such a ‘boon’ to the local economy – and more and more of us are apparently flooding in to buy property from China/France, even Russia (!) – why are we not allowed a say in who runs this potentially wonderful country?
We could make a difference, particularly as news in your and other papers every week seems to be that the Portuguese are legging it as fast as they can, with much of the youth already over the horizon to pastures new.
Surely an expat vote makes sense! And isn’t it time that expats got involved in local politics. Last year, the Earth Party (MPT-Partido da Terra) made huge efforts to get expats on board. I don’t think it ‘worked’, certainly not instantly – but the party ended up getting two seats in the European Elections, and that was considered unlikely until it happened, and a breakthrough when it did.
Perhaps now is the time for another breakthrough?
Gillian Cook
By email