In a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Lisbon, André Ventura reacted to the PS party’s request for preventive review of the parliament’s decree that changes the nationality law by accusing the socialists of “betraying the Portuguese people” and attempting to “win in the administrative office” what they could not win in parliament and votes.
“[PS] is an enemy of the people when it tries, in a bureaucratic way, to once again delay a law that they know is crucial for the future of Portugal. Portugal has become an open door for immigration in recent years,” he stated.
The president of Chega argued that the socialist’s behavior “continues in the vein of what they have been doing in recent years” and asserted that this option for the nationality law was approved by the Portuguese in the last legislative elections, when a majority of deputies were given to the PSD, CDS-PP, and Chega benches.
“There is a majority that wants to control immigration, control nationality and its assignment, and control the granting of subsidies to foreigners. The parties have to meet that desire. The Socialist Party is, in essence, trying to block that desire, despite having clearly seen in the elections that such a desire existed,” he added.
Ventura said that, besides the left trying to block legislative processes related to nationality or immigration, the country has a “President of the Republic who is complicit in this,” recalling the “drama that was” with the foreigners’ law.
André Ventura also claimed that the PS had “other mechanisms,” such as a request for successive review, instead of opting to “permanently prevent laws from coming into force.”
The leader of Chega appealed to the Constitutional Court to “decide quickly,” now that the “damage is done, so the country can “once and for all turn the page on this chapter,” a request extended to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Ventura pointed to what he considered other attempts to delay the legislative process of this bill, such as requests for immigrant hearings in the specialized discussion in the Assembly of the Republic.
“Institutions are always creating obstacles so that things do not come into effect. Then it is said, the country has no reforms. Of course, it has no reforms. The far left has entrenched itself around power in such a way that it allows nothing to happen. It’s evident there are no reforms in Portugal. This is an example of that,” he stated.
The leader of Chega further emphasized the “hard and ongoing work to reach a minimum consensus” between Chega and PSD, reiterating the request for “respect and democratic sense” for what is approved in parliament.
“We are talking about two parties that represent very broad segments of the population, that have different visions, but that tried to reach a consensus. I mean, if even this does not serve, the Communist Party and the Left Bloc might as well draft the law,” he criticized.
At the beginning of the press conference, the president of Chega confirmed that he will submit a motion of condemnation in parliament, as he had announced on Wednesday, to the speech of the President of Angola, João Lourenço, during the independence anniversary celebrations, and extend it to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, whom he described as a symbol of a “failed nation,” that “bends to all sides wherever he goes.”
