“I do not represent the Socialist Party, I do not represent the Communist Party, I do not represent the Left Bloc, I do not represent and will not represent. We want a break with that past, we want a break with what led us to misery, or we want a break with António Costa. If Gouveia e Melo wants to be the candidate of António Costa and the PS, he has to assume it,” said André Ventura, speaking to journalists in the parish of Agualva-Cacém, in the municipality of Sintra.
The candidate for Belém, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a pre-campaign event for the January presidential elections, commented on the fact that, during the TV face-off between António José Seguro (the candidate backed by the PS) and Henrique Gouveia e Melo, the retired admiral stated that he represents “another political field also, that of the PS,” later classifying his opponent as representing “a faction of the PS.”
“He can’t even accomplish full support from the PS. Hence his concern with these attacks he is making against me,” responded the admiral.
From André Ventura’s perspective, Gouveia e Melo cannot “pretend to want authority, order, and security,” while wanting to represent a party that “allowed chaos in immigration, allowed everyone to live on subsidies, and allowed the country to be this way.”
“Today I’m certain I was right to move forward because, indeed, 20% or 25% of the country wouldn’t know what decision to make on the 18th,” he argued.
The president of Chega stated that “a few months ago” he was trailing in the polls because “even the supporters themselves, the population itself, the Chega militants,” like himself, “had doubts.”
“After a month, a month, a month and a half, we are in first place in the main polls that are published: this is a sign that we were right in the decision we made. It was a sign that we did well in moving forward and that the country indeed needs a shake-up,” he asserted.
Ventura also announced he will suspend his mandate in the Assembly of the Republic during the electoral campaign.
During a walk along Avenida dos Bons Amigos in Cacém, where he interacted with several shopkeepers, André Ventura was warmly received by passersby, hearing encouragements for his candidacy, including from people who stopped their cars or honked to greet him.
There were also a few dissenters, although fewer in number, with occasional shouts of “Fascist” or “Hitler” being heard. The walk was monitored from a distance, on the opposite side of the street, by three PSP officers.
André Ventura also commented on the fact that today, the newspaper Público reported that Miguel Cardoso, director and national coordinator of the organization “Black Europeans,” filed a complaint with the Belgian authorities alleging he was subjected to racist insults, intimidating behavior, and threats from “almost two dozen deputies, advisors, and people linked to the Chega structure,” including the parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, during a flight between Lisbon and Brussels, on a work trip to the European Commission.
Ventura stated that “anyone can file a complaint,” but countered that there is a video where Miguel Cardoso is “threatening Chega deputies inside the plane” to the point where “the commander said he called the police.”
The Público report mentions that Miguel Cardoso — who has previously filed complaints against the party led by André Ventura — accuses Chega of editing this video to make him appear as the aggressor.
