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Presidential? “When it’s necessary to fight or show up, I do.”

Presidential candidate and Chega party leader André Ventura declared on Thursday that his candidacy is “not desirable.” Despite this, he sees his run for the presidency as “a mission.” Regarding his previous wish for Pedro Passos Coelho to run, he acknowledged the former prime minister would have been “a good candidate.”

In an interview with CNN Portugal, Ventura was asked if he was a reluctant candidate for the presidency, given that he initially stated it was not his aspiration: “Political life is what it is, and we should not lie to people. I have built my political career – and continue to do so – by telling the truth to people,” he said.

He continued: “This was not the candidacy we wished for, and we believed the candidacy for the Presidency should be a space for convergence, a candidacy above parties, interests, against corruption – which was very important – and led by a protagonist.”

Ventura emphasized that “it was not desirable for the opposition leader, the most voted after the government, to be a presidential candidate.” “But I also learned something in political life: politics is not what we want, it’s what the Portuguese trust,” he stated.

“There are moments in life when we cannot think about ourselves; we must think about what is best for the country,” he said.

When asked if this candidacy was a kind of sacrifice, the Chega leader asserted it was a “mission.” “It is a mission, I see it as a mission,” he stressed.

“I look at the country and the state it’s in across various areas; having a President above party interests, not just a commentator on all issues like the current President, someone who fights corruption, subsidy dependence, and uncontrolled immigration,” he argued, adding that new data showed more than 1.5 million immigrants living in Portugal.

“When it’s time to fight, when it’s time to step up, I do,” he declared.

Regarding immigration and the fact that over 1.5 million immigrants are not illegally residing in the country, Ventura acknowledged this but noted, “for a country of 10 million, having 1.5 million immigrants is excessive and a mistake. It’s a mess.”

“When I see, as was the case with the Aliens Law, and there the President of the Republic played a crucial role, sending it to the Constitutional Court to further limit what we wanted: safe borders and immigration control, and I heard my three opponents – Admiral Gouveia e Melo, Dr. António José Seguro, and Dr. Marques Mendes – say they agree, I was certain that the space that wants more controlled immigration, the space that wants to fight corruption or wants a different system has to fight; has to go to war, and I am not one to stay at home,” he remarked in the same CNN Portugal interview.

He continued: “When it’s time to fight, when it’s time to step up, I do – and here I am.”

In the Chega president’s opinion, the National Health Service (SNS) is “collapsing because of immigrants,” noting that, for instance, at a hospital in central Lisbon, “you don’t see a Portuguese person,” and emphasized the need for border control.

Ventura also considered that health and housing problems have worsened due to immigration: “If we’re not doing well and we let everyone in – traffickers, criminals, and people needing health access – what kind of country do we become? An open-air mess.”

He noted, “When I saw that, in reality, we had an admiral as a candidate but who wanted to do little to put the country in order because, in fact, he says the same as the PS, I convinced myself that no one can put this country in order except Chega. That’s why I’m running for President of the Republic.”

“Pedro Passos Coelho was a good candidate for President of the Republic”

When asked about failing to convince Pedro Passos Coelho to run for the Presidency and what distinguished the former prime minister in Ventura’s eyes as his preferred candidate, the Chega leader said, “If Pedro Passos Coelho were a candidate, I could focus on making the necessary opposition to the country.”

“I think Pedro Passos Coelho was a good candidate for President of the Republic. He was a good candidate, had the profile of someone who was prime minister, but that didn’t happen. There’s no point in crying, we need a candidacy firm in our causes. I agreed to lead this candidacy, and that’s how I present myself to voters. Do I take risks? Yes, because a leader always takes risks,” he emphasized.

Ventura also referenced Sá Carneiro, noting that he always follows what the founder of PPD/PSD said: “Politics without risk is boring.”

“I take risks because I think the country deserves me to take risks. If I have a poor result, it’s a political risk, but I don’t mind that because I will always believe I’m bringing the right causes to the presidential debate. When people come to vote, they’ll know there are three candidates – I’m not disrespecting the others – but there are three more relevant candidates very close to the political system and another candidate against this political system,” he declared.

It’s noteworthy that the Chega president announced his presidential candidacy in September, emphasizing at the time that he didn’t wish to be a candidate.

“I will be a candidate in the 2026 presidential elections. I will be a candidate because, given the circumstances they’ve imposed on us, we have no choice but to defeat the system in these elections,” he announced at a press conference.

André Ventura enters the race for Belém:
Ana Teresa Banha with Lusa | 17:22 – 16/09/2025

Ventura stated it wasn’t his desire to advance with a candidacy for Belém but justified that this would also be a way to lead the opposition. The Chega leader criticized the other candidates.

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