The meeting will be held at the Lisbon Forum, set to begin at 8:30 PM.
The agenda includes an “analysis and discussion of the presidential elections” as well as “other matters.”
At a press conference in early September at the party headquarters, the leader of Chega indicated that the objective of today’s National Council is to gather opinions from its leaders on the matter.
In his most recent television interview on CNN Portugal on Tuesday, the president of Chega stated that “between the 12th and 15th, Chega will present a presidential candidate,” and he will decide whether to run for re-election in Belém or if the party will support another candidate.
“It would be a bad sign for democracy if I run,” he said, arguing that “the leader of the opposition should not be simultaneously a presidential candidate,” only “as a last resort.”
“I feel that my role is to be the Prime Minister of Portugal, where changes can be made more directly,” he suggested, noting that for the presidential elections early next year, “there are other names on the table that are being considered.”
In mid-August, in another interview with Now, André Ventura admitted he was “closer” to running for President of the Republic again than he was “two or three weeks ago,” but noted that it would not be “the most favorable and positive scenario for a leader of the opposition to be simultaneously a candidate for President of the Republic.”
Before the legislative elections in May, the president of Chega had announced his intention to run for President of the Republic, but he had been distancing himself from that possibility after the party’s gains in those elections, which made it the second-largest force in parliament.
The leader of Chega was a candidate for President of the Republic in 2021, when Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was elected for a second term in Belém. André Ventura received 11.90% of the votes, finishing in third place behind Ana Gomes.
