The Chega party called for an urgent parliamentary meeting today, noting its atypicality for this period. Chega believes it necessary for the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Administration to appear in parliament to explain their poor handling of the crisis and the delayed activation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism,” said André Ventura in Cadaval.
This request comes after the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, rejected a similar proposal from the sole JPP deputy, stating that only parliamentary groups can request such discussions.
In the request sent today to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Chega seeks either a plenary session or an extraordinary meeting of the standing committee, which substitutes the plenary during parliamentary recesses.
Chega asserts the need “to scrutinize the Government’s activities and ensure responses to the many unresolved questions, particularly concerning the delay in activating the European Civil Protection Mechanism,” reads the request.
André Ventura reiterated the necessity for the Minister of Internal Administration’s resignation, describing her as “a disaster” and incompetent in coordinating Civil Protection against the fires.
“Unfortunately, we find ourselves in an unfavorable situation, losing the battle, resources, causing suffering and pain. I hope the Prime Minister will timely replace a minister proving disastrous in combating fires and, above all, lacking empathy with the people,” stated André Ventura in Cadaval.
The leader of Chega, who also accused the minister of “sheer incompetence” in overseeing the fires, differentiated between the political evaluation of the minister and his personal regard for Maria Lúcia Amaral, whom he once studied under at university.
“This Minister of Internal Administration lacks any capability to continue, and every day she remains in charge of fighting the fires is another day lost in the battle,” he argued.
In Cadaval, on the sidelines of the party’s municipal election list submissions in the region, Ventura recalled that Luís Montenegro “criticized António Costa’s government for lacking more aerial resources and accountability,” but noted that “two years later, we still have no aerial resources and no accountability,” concluding that “nothing has changed” and “Luís Montenegro is no different from António Costa.”
Regarding the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who “was active in similar situations,” the Chega leader hopes for “consistent commentary” and insists that “there can be no different stance when the government is PS or PSD.”
