“There is nothing to stop us, and recent European history shows this well, that if we are at 12, 14 or 15%, as in some polls, we can climb the margin we are aiming for and vote in the PSD at the next win elections.”, said André Ventura in his speech at the 13th National Council, which took place in Cantanhede, in the district of Coimbra.
For example, the party leader commented on the recent interview with the president of the republic, who claimed that there is an arithmetic right-wing majority in Portugal, but no political one, and that the current voting intentions for the PSD point to “a weak alternative in leadership”.
In an inside message, André Ventura challenged leaders and militants to “stop thinking about how we’re going to make an agreement with the PSD, whether they’re going to accept it or not, what ministries and what kind of policies will be we’re going to run.”
“That is not our fight. Our fight in the coming years should be to show the Portuguese that we are the alternative they really wanted and not whether the PSD and Chega get along or whether the PSD allows Chega to become government partner be,” he underlined.
Chega’s president, who was widely applauded, stated that the party “will be the most voted party in the next parliamentary elections and will lead this right-wing government in Portugal”, emphasizing that they do not need the IL “for nothing”.
“Since when do we need IL for anything,” he stressed.
In an analysis of the political situation in the country, André Ventura again criticized PS and PSD’s “passing the blame” for TAP’s financial issue and recalled that Chega was the first party to propose a committee of inquiry to analyze the situation .
“If there were obscure deals at TAP, then we are going to demand answers and accountability, from whichever party it is, it was Portuguese money. The process and mess of nationalisation, reprivatisation and the middle led to us losing money in an unimaginable way,” he said.
Chega’s leader again defended harsher punishments for pedophiles or child molesters, regarding the recent cases that have come to light within the Portuguese Catholic Church, as “a good pedophile is a pedophile in prison”, but also stressed the responsibilities of the state in the old process of Casa Pia.
Regarding the rise in food prices in Portugal, André Ventura criticized “unacceptable” profit margins and called for continued surveillance of food prices.
Source: DN
