The president of Chega, André Ventura, today considered that the country will have a “central bloc government” of PSD and PS by September, which the Portuguese will judge, and reiterated that he will remain in opposition.
“From now until September, we’re going to have a central block in Portugal,” said André Ventura, speaking to journalists outside the GNR’s territorial sub-district in the municipality of Sintra.
The Chega leader was asked about the letter sent by the PS secretary-general, Pedro Nuno Santos, to the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, offering to negotiate an agreement that would resolve the situation of certain professional groups in the public administration within 60 days, to which the leader of the executive has already promised to respond.
Ventura viewed this missive as “normal”, arguing that “since taking office, it has become clear that the PSD wants the PS to be its interlocutor and, therefore, it has to talk to it”.
The Chega president insisted that his party will be in opposition, but will not fail to approve “proposals that are positive”.
“I think that the time has passed to tell the PSD that it can still make progress, to get out from under the cloak, the hat, of a party that it has criticized so much. The choice has been made and accepted and now it’s time to work on that choice to avoid a scenario of instability in September,” he said.
André Ventura said he hoped the PS and PSD would “create these conditions of convergence so that they can come to an understanding”.
Asked about the motion to reject the government program presented by the PCP, the Chega leader argued that it makes no sense to approve the document, since there is no “political alternative”.
“From now until September we will have a central bloc in Portugal, so I see no reason to approve any motion. I think you have to let the PSD and PS govern, we’ll be here to see what went right and what went wrong, and in September we’ll make our decision,” he said.
In the Chega leader’s opinion, “the PS has put itself in an alley it can’t get out of”.
“On the one hand, he wanted to be available to show that he’s the adult in the room and now he’s realized that the Democratic Alliance has told him, ‘then you’ll have to be the one to approve the budget’, and he wants to get it done in June or July, so that he doesn’t have to approve the State Budget [for 2025], that’s clear,” he said.
Recalling that the PS secretary-general, Pedro Nuno Santos, has held various government positions over the last few years, including in the last executive, Ventura questioned the credibility of the socialist leader “to propose measures like this”.
“If Montenegro thinks Pedro Nuno Santos has the credibility to propose measures like this, that’s for him to judge. One day they will both be judged by the Portuguese on how they conducted this government process,” he said.
