During a contentious parliamentary session, following comments from Chega leader André Ventura accusing the Socialist Party (PS) of fostering “national corruption,” the PS parliamentary leader sought to defend his party’s honor.
Eurico Brilhante Dias highlighted the PS’s five-decade legacy, contrasting it with Chega’s six-year existence without approved statutes from the Constitutional Court.
Brilhante Dias proceeded to enumerate a list of alleged crimes attributed to various Chega members, including theft, extortion, assault on donation boxes, child prostitution, luggage theft, and arson.
Amidst loud interruptions and protests from Chega deputies, Brilhante Dias repeatedly attempted to read the list.
The disruptions prompted an intervention from the President of the Assembly, who reminded the plenary that “there are rules in democracy” and assured that while presiding, “democracy will function,” asserting that he would not tolerate attempts to undermine democratic processes.
“Democracy will continue, despite attempts to create incidents for tomorrow’s headlines,” warned José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
Eurico Brilhante Dias asserted that “three Salazars will not silence the PS” and for each, “three Mário Soares will rise to combat fascism.”
In response, Ventura claimed he addressed “PS corruption after the PS insisted on talking about national corporatism.”
Ventura remarked that while Brilhante Dias held a sheet of paper, “to defend the PS’s honor would require reams,” subsequently dropping several sheets to the floor.
He commented that he would rather have someone accused of stealing from donation boxes “than an entire country.”
“One André Ventura is enough to clean you from this house,” he concluded.
After the intervention, the Chega president collected the fallen papers, following another comment from Aguiar-Branco, who deemed the behavior disrespectful.
At the conclusion of the debate on the State Budget for the coming year, Ventura justified Chega’s opposition vote, heavily criticizing the Government’s proposal.
The Chega leader argued that “this is a bad budget for Portugal,” as it “continues PS’s practice of taking from some to give to others,” and has misplaced priorities.
“Taking from those who work or have worked, from those who supported the country, to continue giving to a privileged class—whether political, economic connected to power, or those unwilling to work, who choose to live on subsidies,” he critiqued.
“The budget we’re voting on shows us the same path. The path PS already took is the path PSD wants to follow,” he criticized, adding that “the country is getting worse,” likening Portugal to “a slum.”
The deputy accused the Government of pretending to “lower taxes,” while “taking from the fuel that Portuguese people pay for daily at gas stations,” deemed the health policy “an absolute disaster,” and stated that “zero VAT on the food basket is truly going forward.”
[Updated at 19:24]
