The National Election Commission (CNE) has determined that there are “no indications of any electoral offense” in the campaign posters of André Ventura for the Presidential elections, as stated in a response sent this Thursday, November 6, to the Jornal de Notícias (JN).
The matter concerns billboards featuring a photograph of André Ventura alongside phrases like “This is not Bangladesh” or “Gypsies must obey the law”.
Thus, the CNE has indicated to JN that it will not take any measures but will continue to forward complaints related to the aforementioned posters to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In statements to Lusa, the CNE spokesperson confirmed the information initially reported by Jornal de Notícias. “In this case, no electoral offense was found where the CNE could intervene. It does not rule out the possibility of other types of offenses, but in that case, the competent authority is the Public Prosecutor’s Office and, if deemed necessary, the courts”, he stated.
André Wemans mentioned that the situation was analyzed by the CNE in a plenary session on Tuesday, following the scheduling of the Presidential elections for January 18.
He indicated that the commission “maintains the position previously communicated to forward the received complaints to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for verification of possible other types of offenses”.
According to the spokesperson, the CNE has already received more than 450 complaints.
Last week, the CNE spokesperson had already informed Lusa that dozens of complaints had been received against André Ventura’s posters, denouncing xenophobic political messages and appeals to racism.
At the time, the CNE argued that since the presidential elections had not been officially scheduled, the commission did not have “the competence to intervene in this matter outside of the electoral period,” deciding to send complaints to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to determine if any criminal offenses had been committed.
The CNE considers that the content of political propaganda is subject to certain limits and has forwarded complaints about André Ventura’s posters referring to Bangladesh and gypsies to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Eight Roma associations also announced last week that they would file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, considering filing an injunction to have the posters removed.
The Socialist Party (PS) also called for the Public Prosecutor’s Office to intervene to apply any possible sanctions due to the posters.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate and leader of Chega, André Ventura, has publicly refused to remove the posters referencing the Roma community and Bangladesh, arguing that it concerns his freedom of expression.
“I regret that there are in Portugal a number of associations of people who, honestly, are always making work for the justice system in matters that should not be within the realm of justice. We live in a free country, and we must know how to live in a democracy. In a democracy, opponents are not defeated by imprisoning them, or by removing posters, or by silencing them, but by debate and confrontation of ideas,” he stated to journalists in Parliament, on the sidelines of the State Budget discussion.
Ventura also denied that the messages on the first billboards related to his candidacy – “This is not Bangladesh” and “Gypsies must obey the law” – have a racist tone.
Portugal will choose the successor of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on January 18, 2026. A potential second round, which by law occurs three weeks later, would take place on February 8.
[Update at 19:12]
