Presidential candidate André Ventura stated on Friday during an interview with SIC that “the country is rotten” and requires not one, but “three Salazars” to set things right.
Reactions followed promptly. On Saturday, António José Seguro, also a presidential candidate backed by the Socialist Party (PS), remarked that “with one [Salazar] the delay was significant, imagine with three, the delay it would cause.”
“The country does not need dictators, the country needs democratic, efficient, transparent institutions that combat corruption,” he added.
Luís Marques Mendes, another candidate supported by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), emphasized on Sunday that André Ventura “cannot be, and will not be, President,” accusing him of “dividing the Portuguese” and “undermining democracy.”
The former PSD leader described Ventura’s statements as “simply regrettable,” contending that “the country needs a President who unites the Portuguese. This man is here to set them against one another.”
“This man respects nothing and no one, as evidenced in his recent interview. In a word: this man will not be, and cannot be President,” he further stressed.
Marques Mendes opined that Chega’s leader “wants to be Prime Minister” rather than President, using his candidacy to “create noise, confusion, and provocation.”
“He only knows how to live based on noise, confusion, and provocation. That’s why someone like that cannot be, nor will be President,” he concluded.
“Three Salazars are only needed because they let this become a complete mess”
Critiques seemed to bolster Ventura, who reiterated his stance on Sunday and distanced himself from the values of April.
“Three Salazars are only needed because they let this become a complete mess, it’s needed because they let it flood with corruption, and because they let everyone in without asking for a record,” argued Chega’s leader, noting that, in Madeira, for example, one or two would suffice to end the “drug mess.”
During an intervention at a lunch/rally with Chega-elected mayors in Funchal, Ventura sought to distance himself from April’s values and differentiate from those he deemed main opponents in the race for Belém, Gouveia e Melo, Marques Mendes, and António José Seguro.
“On January 18 […] three projects selling the country, surrendering the country, and kneeling before others will be at stake, opposed by another project of never kneeling, upholding our dignity, and walking with heads held high,” he stated.
“I am not the candidate of April, I am the candidate of Portugal,” he declared, reinforcing: “It’s the candidacy of Portugaliness, of our values, of Lusitania, a candidacy aiming to unite Portugal and show abroad that we truly want to rise again.”
Portugal is set to choose Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s successor in three months, in January 2026. Currently, there are eight presidential candidates: Luís Marques Mendes, António José Seguro, André Ventura, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, João Cotrim de Figueiredo, António Filipe, Catarina Martins, and Jorge Pinto.
