A Socialist Party (PS) deputy, Isabel Moreira, expressed her desire to “hear the President of the Republic” and “see justice take action,” following a speech by Chega leader, André Ventura, in which he named various children attending a school in Lisbon during a parliamentary debate on amendments to nationality and immigration laws last week.
Isabel Moreira took to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to state that “the video of the Chega deputy [referring to Rita Matias] and Ventura’s intervention focuses on names that imply a particular part of the globe, rather than on students from English or French schools.”
“Since Friday, all children with the mentioned names feel more insecure. It is monstrous. It is indeed a hate crime. Complicity with Chega is a choice. I would like to see consequences in the Assembly of the Republic, hear from the President of the Republic, and see justice act,” she emphasized.
Notably, several deputies and political figures have criticized André Ventura’s behavior in Parliament in recent days.
Since Friday, all children with the mentioned names feel more insecure. It is monstrous. It is indeed a hate crime. Complicity with Chega is a choice. I would like to see consequences in the Assembly of the Republic, hear from the President of the Republic, and see justice act.
— Isabel Moreira (@IsabelLMMoreira) July 7, 2025
Pedro Duarte “shocked” and describes Ventura’s actions as “indescribable”
“I am shocked by the lack of empathy from people and this rush toward populism, toward demagoguery, which probably makes these individuals forget the values and principles that I continue to believe they actually profess deep down. But indeed, there are no limits. This is absolutely unacceptable; it is indescribable,” stated former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pedro Duarte, on CNN Portugal’s ‘Principle of Uncertainty’ segment.
Pedro Duarte argued that “it cannot be mitigated by the fact that the full names were not mentioned in Parliament,” explaining that “the issue at hand is the manifest subjective impact on individuals and on the individual context of each person.”
Pedro Duarte expressed being “shocked” and labeled André Ventura’s actions as “indescribable” after the Chega leader listed the names of foreign children – attending a school in Lisbon – in Parliament during a debate on nationality and immigration law amendments.
Maria Gouveia com Lusa | 08:11 – 07/07/2025
Alexandra Leitão: The event exceeded “what is acceptable in a democracy”
Socialist Alexandra Leitão also condemned André Ventura’s behavior, asserting that the incident in Parliament exceeded “what is acceptable in a democracy” and that “using minors to fuel hate speech is shameful, inhumane, and dangerous”.
Alexandra Leitão criticized Chega leader André Ventura for naming minor students in Parliament, referring to it as an instrumentalization “to fuel hate speech.”
Notícias ao Minuto com Lusa | 11:43 – 06/07/2025
It should be noted that when André Ventura started naming foreign children in the Assembly of the Republic, several deputies from left-wing benches intervened and tried to interrupt the Chega leader’s speech. However, the session chair did not intervene.
For instance, the parliamentary leader of Livre even became emotional, requesting “humanity.”
On Sunday, the Chega president took to his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to remark that “part of the country was bothered by the reading of Islamic and Indian names in Portuguese schools” and criticized the Left: “Curious, I never saw them concerned about using children and young people in LGBT propaganda or in the pamphlets of Bloco and PCP.”
It should be noted that the Government’s initiatives to amend nationality and immigration bills progressed to the specialty phase without being voted on in general, along with Chega’s draft laws on similar subjects.
The Government’s proposed amendment to the nationality bill, now to be discussed in committee, aims to increase the required residency period in Portugal for citizenship acquisition (from five to 7 or 10 years, depending on whether applicants are Lusophone or non-Lusophone citizens).
Furthermore, the Government foresees the possibility of depriving nationality from naturalized citizens of less than 10 years who are sentenced to an effective prison term of five years or more for committing serious crimes. Regarding the grant of original nationality to descendants of foreign residents in Portugal, it now requires a legal residency period of three years.
Chega’s draft law, which also advanced to the specialty phase, proposes “the loss of nationality acquired by naturalization or when dual nationality is present, in cases where the individual perpetrates acts severely undermining sovereignty, national security, or the essential principles of the rule of law.”
In terms of foreigner legislation, the Government intends to restrict work search visas “to highly qualified activities,” limit family reunification access, and modify residence permit conditions for nationals of Portuguese-Speaking Community countries (CPLP).
Chega presents a draft law that “restricts regulations on entry and stay in national territory,” imposing entry quotas corresponding to labor needs identified by authorities.
