“I wanted to issue a warning to the prime minister today, which is not a threat, it is a warning. This is one of the crucial areas for us. Just like the fight against corruption and dependency on subsidies, we will not toy with the health of the Portuguese,” he stated in comments to journalists at the Assembly of the Republic.
During the debate on the executive’s program, the Chega leader sent a message: “Either the Government changes in health, or the Government does something for the health of those who are here and not for those who come here, or we will not tolerate this Government of Portugal for long.”
Speaking to journalists a few hours later, André Ventura stated that “if the Government continues to toy with the health of the Portuguese, it will bear the political consequences of that mockery.”
“And those consequences could be the withdrawal of political support and the expression of opposition to political support in the Assembly of the Republic,” he added, without directly answering whether this implies a motion of censure against the Government.
The leader of Chega reiterated that he will not support the rejection motion of the executive’s program, presented by the PCP.
André Ventura noted that the previous executive, also led by Luís Montenegro, “said it had a 60-day plan for health” and expects that in the same period “concrete results will be shown,” particularly avoiding the closure of emergencies.
“It was the Government that set deadlines for itself. What we have to say frankly is that there are matters that are, so to speak, exhausting our patience,” he emphasized.
André Ventura indicated that Chega will not be “a blocking force” and “is available to work on these matters and to prove whatever is necessary in these matters,” stating that the Government will not act only if it lacks “political will.”
“What matters is for the Government to act and implement. Unfortunately, Chega has some well-founded doubts that the Government does not want or will carry out many of the measures” it proposes, he argued, downplaying whether these proposals are “copied” from other parties.
In this statement, André Ventura also criticized the PS, considering it “a defunct party, withering away by the day.”
“I think any leadership of PS, whether the previous one or the one before that, will look at the Socialist Party’s interventions in parliament today and wonder where the Socialist Party is, as it withers away by the day,” he added.
