“Except for one candidate, Gouveia e Melo, who said he was willing to participate in the debate, I don’t know if we both will end up talking about health, but I think this is negative for the other candidates, especially for those contesting the second round,” stated today to journalists at the Serralves Foundation in Porto.
André Ventura spoke after attending the Fábrica Conference organized by the newspaper Eco, noting that Luís Marques Mendes responded there would be plenty of debates, not just about health. However, for Ventura, also the president of Chega, “health is the main concern of the people.”
“I was saddened to see that two of these opponents do not want to participate in this debate. But it could also be due to some incompetence. In the case of António José Seguro, he has been distanced from public life for a long time and may not be in touch with the realities in Portugal on this matter,” said Ventura, also the president of Chega.
Regarding Marques Mendes, Ventura suggested that he might not want to engage in the debate “perhaps because he is so involved with what the government has done poorly regarding health that he does not want to be associated with it.”
André Ventura, who also mentioned he would not stop being a Chega member if he becomes President of the Republic, criticized the government, asserting that the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, “does not take responsibility for anything that happens.”
“The prime minister should have already told the minister that she needs to take responsibility and that blame cannot be left unaddressed in Portugal. We cannot have a country where people die in health centers waiting for a consultation or at the hospital doors or cannot access emergency services, and nothing happens,” he argued.
Ventura believes “it suits the prime minister to have someone who is the target of all criticism,” suggesting that Luís Montenegro “protects himself a little in all this.”
“It’s easy to see that this is the strategy. But while Luís Montenegro has a small political strategy, which is to let someone else take the heat for him, and remains the target of all criticism, health continues to deteriorate, people continue to have less access to health care, and perhaps this is the topic that most deserved debate,” he observed.
