The vice-president of Chega and Member of the Assembly of the Republic, Pedro Frazão, asserted on Monday that no country needs “three Salazars” as Portugal already has the party leader, André Ventura, who “is worth more than three or four Salazars.”
“I must say that I disagree with the leader of my party. I think we don’t need three Salazars because we already have André Ventura, and André Ventura is worth more than three or four Salazars,” he stated in remarks to CNN Portugal.
The deputy expressed “certainty that when André Ventura becomes prime minister, he will bring budgetary stability” and will “restore order to the country.”
This issue arises from André Ventura’s statement that “three Salazars are needed to put the country in order,” in an interview with SIC last Friday, a notion he reiterated at a rally in Madeira.
Regarding the State Budget for 2026, Pedro Frazão considered it to be “more of the same” and “everyone against Chega.” “Today, in the budget debate, everyone tried to beat on Chega,” he emphasized.
He also accused the Socialist Party (PS) of being “a crutch” of the PSD by enabling the State Budget and lamented that other parties, “instead of opposing Luís Montenegro,” chose “to attack Chega.”
“It’s everyone against Chega. Why? Because, in fact, they identify that Chega is a dazzling force in Portuguese politics,” he claimed.
The “three Salazars” controversy began in an interview: “The country is rotten with corruption, impunity, and banditry.”
On Friday, during an interview with SIC, Ventura argued that “there is an epidemic of corruption in Portugal” and that “another regime is needed.”
“We have more bandits loose than in jail. We have politicians who were convicted of corruption serving as mayors, ministers, receiving lifetime pensions… It’s the open bar of the Republic,” he asserted.
“We don’t need one Salazar; we need three Salazars to set things right,” he said, illustrating his view of how “the country is rotten with corruption, impunity, and banditry.”
On Sunday, during a lunch rally in Madeira, André Ventura, who is running for the presidential elections in January, distanced himself from the values of April and again argued for the need for “three Salazars” to rebuild Portugal.
“Three Salazars are only needed because they let this become a complete mess, three Salazars are needed because they let corruption flood in, and three Salazars are needed because they allowed everyone to enter without asking for a criminal record,” argued the Chega leader, emphasizing that in Madeira, for example, just one or two would suffice to end the “drug mess.”
The topic was addressed in the Assembly of the Republic during the State Budget debate, with the Prime Minister warning Ventura that “dictatorship does not fight corruption, dictatorship is itself corruption.”
“If the deputy wants to add to the three Salazars, two Pedro Sánchez is your choice, but it’s not mine,” stated Montenegro.
