“Some ask, ‘Will he be authoritarian? He seems authoritarian’… In some cases, I will be, and I want no one to vote under false pretenses. If you want to vote for a weakling, don’t vote for me,” stated André Ventura.
The leader of the Chega party made these remarks during a campaign dinner on Saturday night in Viseu, a district where the party won two parliamentary seats in the last legislative elections in 2024.
“I will also be authoritarian. I’ll be authoritarian in telling people that, just like in the best countries in the world, in Portugal, those who steal homes, cars, attack women, commit rape, murder, and rob the state will no longer be treated with leniency by the regime and the parliament,” he declared.
The Chega leader indicated that “these individuals will finally feel the heavy hand of power and the state on criminal activity.”
During his approximately half-hour address, André Ventura also asserted that “the system is fearful” of a potential Chega victory in the upcoming legislative elections on the 18th.
“It is scared because it realizes that we will expose what Portugal has been over the past decades,” he argued.
Ventura further suggested that “there are times in a country’s history when a revolution is indeed necessary.”
“A democratic revolution, one of freedom, but a revolution nonetheless,” he added.
He cited the President of Argentina, Javier Milei: “I did not come to lead sheep; I came to awaken lions, to awaken warriors, from nine years old to 79, those who understand that now is the time to change the country.”
Addressing a full room, André Ventura also warned, “It is useless to fill rooms, win on social media, or have the best polls if voters do not go to cast their ballots.”
“We have to leave our homes and vote. Go out and vote,” he urged, reiterating that Chega’s goal is to win the legislative elections and that only such a scenario guarantees stability.
André Ventura promised that if this happens, his government would be “completely different, with transparency, work, honesty, integrity, seriousness, and against corruption.”
