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It made possible the existence of a right-wing government in the Azores. It is also available for a national agreement with the PSD. A few days ago, conversations with the president of the Alliance were announced. Is a merger with the Alliance planned?
No. Chega merged with PPV, as is known. Chega integrated PPV. This is not expected to happen in the near future in relation to any other party. Now it is evident that as the growth of Chega becomes evident – let me say that I believe that today in number of militants we are the third largest Portuguese party, in number of militants registered in its base -, it is normal that the smaller parties wants to be part of the Chega structure or at least get closer. Because they have already realized that at the local and national level it will be very impossible to have right-wing majorities without Chega.
Don’t CDS here count towards the deck?
For me it counts. But the CDS has 1% in the polls. We have 8%. We have to look at what the Portuguese think today. And the truth is that I think it was already clear, in fact this poll is very clear: all the right-wing parties – PSD, IL and CDS – descend and Chega is the only one that grows. What do we get out of here? That it will not be possible to make a majority on the right without Chega. We have reached this point, they will tell me like this: they will remain inflexible and will say with Chega that we do not talk or want anything. But then tell me how you are going to run a government after the elections. Because if everyone says it with Chega there is nothing, then we will also say with others that there is nothing. And we were all in Parliament happily expecting the majority. But that majority will not exist. Chega is not going to leave this bar because this is a loyal electorate in Chega.
Is absorbing PSD over time a goal for Chega?
It is not absorbent. We respect the PSD a lot, I myself belonged to the PSD, in fact, most of Chega’s leaders were from the PSD. Chega aspires to be the greatest political force on the right in the next legislature. I never hid it from PSD, I never hid it from dr. Rui Rio.
In the next legislature?
In the next legislature. We established that in eight years we would be the largest Portuguese party on the right, the PS has its own matrix, and that we will be able to do so. Furthermore, the history of other parties similar to ours in Europe has shown that this is possible and that this is how the path is made. We managed to set the national political agenda, (…) set the issues in the Assembly – note that Chega only has one deputy – and I don’t know when there will be elections, if it’s for the year, if it’s the next – and he managed to mark many moments of the national political agenda. With chemical castration, with the issue of minorities, with tax reform, with the issue of the Azores.
All controversial issues in Portuguese society …
The Azores for us weren’t even very controversial. We were the first to say: we don’t want to go to government. It was the others who suddenly created a demon around this. In the Azores we had almost 6%. (…) I had all the legitimacy to say this: there is only government in the Azores, if my deputies are regional secretaries for this and that. And I did not. We said: no, we don’t want to go to the government. We don’t want places. At the national level I listened to dr. Rui Rio says: with me, Chega will not enter the Government. So, if Chega does not enter the government of dr. Rui Rio – I want to say this, make it very clear – Dr. Rui Rio will never be Prime Minister of Portugal.
And I already said that to dr. Rui Rio?
No, I didn’t tell you. I’m telling you for the first time.
And didn’t you like telling him that and hearing what he has to say?
I’ll tell you, certainly. And if one day, after the elections, we meet, in the legislatures, I will tell you exactly this.
But I can tell you that before …
I can tell you before and after, but I’m telling you now, so that you don’t say I didn’t know (…).
