The shadow cabinet of the Chega party, announced by André Ventura in May shortly after the legislative elections, held its inaugural meeting today at the Assembly of the Republic.
Following the meeting, Chega’s leader addressed journalists, flanked by the eleven members of this group, who later posed for a group photo with André Ventura in the party’s parliamentary group room.
The Chega president stated that the “shadow ministers” will scrutinize the government’s activities and publicly speak on behalf of the party, anticipating that this may occur during the discussion of the state budget for the coming year.
These individuals will meet monthly with André Ventura and weekly with the deputies to monitor the parliamentary dossiers in discussion, according to the Chega leader.
Ventura highlighted that the eleven members comprising Chega’s shadow cabinet are “men and women of competence, with experience, with professional backgrounds, who will monitor the government’s activities closely, work on governmental activities for the country, propose alternatives to the government, and also coordinate with Chega’s Parliamentary Group, which is the second largest in Parliament.”
“I think it’s important for people to start seeing and understanding that Chega is not only an alternative, but also has men and women ready to be that alternative,” Ventura asserted, emphasizing that these individuals have proven themselves in civil society and are eager and ambitious to become the political alternative.
André Ventura expressed that “this synergy and this energy transmission between the shadow cabinet and Chega’s deputies makes perfect sense.”
“We want to change the country, and for that, we need to show that we have an alternative to the government and that we have competent men and women to implement this alternative in various areas,” from the state budget “to housing, culture, education, foreign affairs, and internal administration,” he noted.
The announcement of the shadow cabinet followed the legislative elections in May, but the group’s composition was only revealed about a month ago.
According to the list released by the party, Teresa Nogueira Pinto will handle Culture, Jorge Cid Agriculture, Fernando Silva Internal Administration, Horácio Costa Health, Margarida Bentes Penedo Housing, deputy Nuno Simões de Melo Defense, Rui Gomes da Silva Justice, Porto’s elected councilor Miguel Corte-Real State Reform, Alexandre Franco de Sá Education, MEP Tiago Moreira de Sá Foreign Affairs, and Rui Teixeira Santos Finance.
