The president of Chega has labeled “absurd” the initiation of a process by the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) following the public disclosure of minors’ names during a parliamentary session.
In remarks to journalists, André Ventura argued that time is being wasted on processes just because he said “the name Mohammed” and criticized the CNPD, claiming it is starting a process to “justify the money it takes from taxpayers every month.”
“This is absurd, it’s absurd. Only a country with nothing else to do, a country not concerned with corruption, immigration regulation, or rampant street crime, would focus on prosecuting deputies because they stated in parliament that Said, Mohamed, Azuz are overly represented or overcrowded in Portuguese schools. So, is this a crime?,” he stated.
The Chega leader further insisted there is an immigration problem and that it will not be solved by “imprisoning the leader of the second-largest party.”
André Ventura addressed journalists at the Assembly of the Republic shortly after the news broke that the CNPD had launched an inquiry following numerous complaints about Chega’s leader disclosing minors’ names, students at a Lisbon school, in parliament.
The president of Chega argued that this represents “a pure political persecution, incomprehensible.”
The inquiry concerns the alleged identification of minor immigrants during a parliamentary debate on nationality law amendments.
“These gentlemen are zero Portuguese,” said André Ventura, as his bench received a standing ovation.
In response, the Socialist Party (PS) bench declared “that’s a crime,” with all left-wing parties contesting the session’s presiding president, socialist Marcos Perestrelo, for allowing what they termed a “stunt to be reproduced on social networks,” given the children’s nationality was unknown.
Marcos Perestrelo stated the names did not allow the identification of the children involved, a view backed by the President of the Assembly, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
A day earlier, deputy Rita Matias similarly read out foreign-named students from the list in a TikTok video.
During the parliamentary debate, André Ventura claimed the list was “public,” although Rita Matias later confessed she had not verified the “truthfulness” of the names.
Questioned on this matter, Ventura remarked Wednesday that if the list were genuine, “the parents wouldn’t complain.”
[Updated at 13:12]
