The leader of Chega criticized the government’s handling of wildfires, stating, “I think the Government has performed far below expectations and has left much to be desired in its management of the fires.” He made these remarks in Évora before meeting with local mayors and electoral candidates from the party at a hotel in the Alentejo city.
When asked about his views on the wildfire situation in the country, André Ventura specifically assessed “the appearance” of the Minister of Internal Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral. He said that with her short tenure and few days in office, “she had a bad start.”
“It’s a timid start with little capacity to detect problems and little understanding of the issues, especially when she mentioned that resources were not important and that it didn’t matter whether there were more aerial resources or not, when the mayors are tired of saying that aerial resources are lacking,” he stated.
Admitting that Portugal cannot “normalize” the European Civil Protection Mechanism, Ventura argued that “we need to see whether the situation is deteriorating to such an extent that it is necessary” to activate this mechanism.
Portugal has supported fires in other countries in previous years, and “the Government needs to assess, beyond politics, whether the populations are being protected or not,” the Chega leader stressed.
Ventura further argued that the country should have “stricter laws on this matter, corresponding to removing these individuals from the scene on days and at times like this.” He referred to the suspects of arson who, after being brought to court, should not be released while awaiting trial.
“I would like to appeal to the courts. I know there’s a principle of separation of powers, but I would like to appeal to the courts not to release these individuals” because “it’s a risk to people, a risk to property, a risk to agriculture, a risk to the territory,” he asserted.
Besides the meeting in Évora, the Chega leader was also queried by journalists about comments concerning the foreigner law made on Sunday by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Vila do Porto, Azores.
According to the Head of State, the parliamentary majority that sought to change the foreigner law “will be judged in due course for that” and withheld further remarks on what he will do until the Constitutional Court’s decision. This court was asked to preliminarily review the constitutionality of the decree altering the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit, and expulsion of foreigners from the national territory, approved by PSD, Chega, and CDS-PP.
For André Ventura, “indeed, the majority will be judged in the future, but the President of the Republic will also be judged for hindering the enactment of a law that would allow controlling foreign entries at a time when the country is facing a migration control challenge.”
“I’m not saying the President shouldn’t perform his duties. Of course, he should, and he certainly has the right to do so, but we also have the right to say that history and the voters will make that judgment when the time comes,” he added.
Regarding the municipal elections scheduled for October 12, Ventura expressed the party’s intention to run in all of the country’s 308 municipalities and as many parish councils as possible, emphasizing that these elections “are very important” and perhaps the most challenging Chega has ever faced.
Without committing to a specific number of councils to win, the party leader noted that in this year’s legislative elections, Chega won “in 60 municipalities,” and despite the difference between this electoral act and local elections, the party will “fight to win the largest number of councils possible.”
