“It is evident, as it is mandatory to follow all conventions, this is just another nonsense from Dr. Garcia Pereira,” stated André Ventura to journalists at the national headquarters of Chega in Lisbon.
On Wednesday, lawyer António Garcia Pereira filed an addition to the complaint for the dissolution of Chega, claiming that the party has not submitted an updated list of its national leaders for the past six years.
In response to the complaint, the president of Chega questioned how one could lend “the slightest credibility and seriousness” to “someone who is an extreme-left leader, known for their violence, known for total misalignment, a party that has never gained the trust of the Portuguese and has never even elected a deputy to the Assembly of the Republic.”
André Ventura argued that this happens “for one reason, because they want to harm Chega” and indicated that “those who want to destroy Chega only strengthen it.”
“Those who seek to destroy us through bureaucratic means will not succeed because Portuguese democracy has always defended itself, and we will defend it, and Portuguese democracy will defend itself. We do not accept that small dictators like Garcia Pereira end or wish to forcefully extinguish a party,” he declared.
He added: “Those who want to end democracy through bureaucratic means and those who wish to defeat us not through debate, not through elections, but through bureaucratic means only give us more democratic strength. I am not for hatred, I am for winning at the polls and convincing people that our values are right.”
Ventura also remarked that Chega members who have criticized his leadership agreeing to the party’s dissolution “is a contradiction,” it is “the opposite of freedom and democracy” and shows “resentment and pettiness.”
“I engage in politics to solve problems, not to respond to frustrations, resentments, or petty revenges against the party. A member who supports an extreme-left complaint to dissolve the party and to make disappear the second-largest party in democracy demonstrates how undemocratic they are and how they allow resentment and frustration to cloud their reasoning,” he emphasized.
André Ventura also challenged those dissatisfied with his leadership to contest it at the next Chega convention, which he scheduled for the next year following the presidential elections on January 18, in which he is a candidate.
“It wouldn’t make sense to mix the two things. I don’t want anyone to say that André Ventura held a Chega congress to campaign for the presidency for three days,” he justified.
