During approximately half an hour in a debate broadcast by SIC Notícias, the only consensus between André Ventura, the leader of Chega, and Mariana Mortágua, the coordinator of BE, was their sorrow over the death of Pope Francis.
Despite this, Ventura acknowledged that he “did not agree with everything” the Pope stood for, to which Mortágua retorted that she “always had the same view” about Francis.
The debate then shifted to the economy, with André Ventura advocating for an increase in the national minimum wage, akin to BE’s stance, but proposed the creation of a “support fund” by the State to finance this rise.
“What I would like is for Mariana Mortágua to explain how she intends to tell companies to either raise the minimum wage or close down, even now, how she aims to increase the minimum wage while simultaneously having a nationalization program worth 10 billion euros,” Ventura challenged, describing BE’s proposal as “irresponsible” and “blind socialism.”
The BE coordinator accused Ventura of proposing a “hidden tax” by being “the only Portuguese politician supporting Donald Trump [President of the United States]’s attack on Portuguese companies with tariffs,” a protectionist policy Ventura supports.
Mortágua pressed Ventura to outline his tariff proposal for Portugal, warning that “a 20% tariff on imports would immediately increase the price of fuel, gasoline, and diesel by 20%.”
Ventura argued that countries such as China, India, and Bangladesh are “mass producing and flooding the European Union markets,” at which point Mortágua introduced a collection of Lego blocks illustrating Portuguese imports.
The tallest Lego tower, according to Mortágua, represented the 75% of Portuguese imports coming from the European Union, followed by China, Brazil, the United States, India (which Mortágua noted accounts for 1% of Portuguese imports), Pakistan, and Bangladesh (0.2%).
“If Mr. Ventura engaged more with facts rather than prejudices, he might understand a bit more about what drives the Portuguese economy and would tell people at home that his tariff proposal is a tax on fuel, one of Portugal’s largest imports,” she criticized.
Ventura reiterated the need to “protect European producers” and accused Mortágua of “playing politics.”
Housing was another issue where the two leaders found no common ground, with Mortágua insisting on rent caps while accusing André Ventura of defending “the system” and “the elite,” supporting “uncontrolled local accommodation, ‘golden visas’ and tax benefits for wealthy foreigners to buy houses in Portugal.”
When asked if he agreed with the proposal to cap rents, the Chega leader responded that he “would agree if we were in Cuba in the 1950s or the Soviet Union in the 1970s” and reminded Mortágua that “the wall fell.”
Ventura further accused BE of supporting the illegal occupation of houses. Mortágua defended herself, stating that she wants “legal homes for everyone.”
Immigration capped off the debate, with the two political leaders clashing completely. Mortágua advocated for immigrants residing in Portugal for at least four years having the right to vote and be elected to the Assembly of the Republic, Regional Assemblies, and local authorities.
“Because if immigrants pay taxes that are enough to cover 455,000 pensions in Portugal, then they should have a say. My policy is for everyone, it’s humanism. Yours is hate, it’s cruelty, it’s taking from people, it’s selfishness,” she criticized.
Ventura firmly opposed this proposal, disagreeing that an immigrant who “doesn’t speak Portuguese” should be allowed to vote and accusing BE of wanting these citizens’ votes merely for political gains.
