“Apparently, the PSD’s logic of distancing itself from people who are suspected or convicted, or who have ethical doubts, has come to an end,” stated André Ventura to journalists before engaging with the local population in the municipality of Amadora, Lisbon district.
The leader of Chega pointed out that Hernâni Dias left the government “because he had opened a real estate agency while serving as a government official,” subsequently becoming a member of parliament, and is now set to lead the PSD and CDS-PP coalition list for Bragança.
“He couldn’t be a government official, but he can be the top candidate for Bragança. This shows Luís Montenegro’s disarray,” Ventura criticized.
Ventura also criticized the choice of Fernando Queiroga, the mayor of Boticas, who holds the third position on the PSD list of candidates for the National Assembly from the Vila Real district.
“Fernando Queiroga was judicially convicted of economic crimes and is on the PSD list for Vila Real in an eligible position,” he stated, arguing that parties should “take this seriously, and when situations arise, draw consequences from them, or else they are merely pretending to speak about ethics.”
“I remember that the AD said corruption and lack of ethics have no place today, those were the billboards from last year, but yet they present candidates who are proven to be unethical, and some of whom have already been convicted,” he accused, suggesting that if this happened within Chega, it would be headline news.
Ventura urged the Prime Minister to clarify these decisions, recalling that Luis Montenegro called Hernâni Dias’s actions “imprudent,” and suggested the head of the executive “should respond for the integrity of the electoral campaign.”
“If we truly want to have an electoral campaign focused on ethical standards and tackling corruption, or if we will maintain the same old scheme, and apparently the PSD is sticking with the old scheme,” he accused.
The Chega leader was also asked about the format of televised debates between parties with parliamentary representation, reiterating his party’s desire for more debates on open channels.
“The PSD has seven debates on open channels and Chega has two, considering we have a seven-percentage-point difference, this makes no sense,” he argued, noting that his party has the same number of debates on both open and closed channels as parties like Livre, which elected four MPs, while Chega elected 50.
Ventura also considered that “it is disrespectful for Luís Montenegro not to debate with some parliamentary parties when he is a candidate for Prime Minister” and called for reasonableness, expressing confidence that a solution could be found.
Hernâni Dias resigned as Secretary of State for Local Administration and Spatial Planning on January 28, following a report by RTP that he had created two real estate companies while serving as a government official, involved in drafting the decree that alters the Legal Framework for Territorial Management Instruments, known as the controversial land law.
The former official later resumed his mandate as a PSD deputy in the National Assembly.
André Ventura visited Amadora today, walking through some of the city’s streets, and noted that this is “one of the municipalities” where issues related to housing and immigration are most strongly felt.
“There is probably no municipality in the country, none, where immigration control and housing surveillance are as important as they are here today,” he argued.
