André Ventura spoke at the entrance to the opening session of the conference commemorating the 50 years of the IDL – Instituto Amaro da Costa, at Teatro Thalia, in Lisbon, with the presence of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In statements to journalists, André Ventura criticized the positions taken by Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo in an interview, particularly regarding the ideal model of President of the Republic and immigration.
“He said he sees himself in the presidency of Mário Soares and that after ten years an immigrant, an individual from Bangladesh, India, or Pakistan, is as Portuguese as we are. This is not a candidacy of someone who loves his country. It is a candidacy of someone who thinks like the left thinks,” said the Chega presidential candidate.
For André Ventura, the former Chief of Naval Staff “with each day that he speaks, shows he is increasingly the PS candidate,” which, in his view, complicates the situation for António José Seguro, the candidate who will be supported by the socialists.
“If I were in António José Seguro’s position, I would be worried, because each day the admiral speaks, he gathers new socialist supporters. And I bet that Dr. António Costa will vote for Admiral Gouveia e Melo for President of the Republic and there is a whole PS that prefers the admiral to António José Seguro, but that is their issue, not ours,” he concluded.
