The night Ventura transformed “obviously, I quit!” in a “PSD, listen well!”

It was the night of “obviously, I quit!” for André Ventura. After all, the presidential candidate and leader of Chega had not fulfilled the objectives set: to force a second round, to be in second place and to add more votes than the left as a whole. But neither in the speech nor in the statements made on the way to the elevator of the Lisbon Marriott Hotel, Ventura uttered the word ‘resignation’. Even so, as he is “firm” in what he says, he kept his promise and guaranteed that he will give the floor back to the militants to decide if they want to continue with this project.

Despite having spent the campaign saying there are no ‘half wins’, the leader of the party that eventually resigned distinguished between what he considered “a defeat” and “a great victory”. “It is a defeat not to have achieved a second round, not to have been ahead of Ana Gomes. It is a great victory to have reconfigured the space of the right in Portugal “, stressed. He had already spoken of a “historic night”, of a “declared anti-system” party that “broke the usual blockade” and now lived “its greatest moment.”

So spraying to the left depends a lot on how you look at the political spectrum. “We crushed the extreme left in Portugal,” he proclaimed, and told Chega “more votes than the PCP, the Left Bloc and the Liberal Initiative combined.” It is true that Ventura was “below 15%” and “a few tenths from the mediocre left, closer to the minorities that have exploited and destroyed” the country, as he said, but “the Fourth Republic is approaching,” he said. . promised, as well as the downfall of this “miserable government.”

What today was “a huge click” tomorrow “will be an avalanche,” said Ventura, who did not forget to thank God for having put him at the forefront of this endeavor. At the entrance, shortly before 7:00 p.m., he had already revealed that he had spent the day praying. “I prayed, I prayed a lot. Not because of the result but because we managed to reach the end. And I am very happy with what we have achieved, ”he said then. As the leader of the resignation, Ventura remains confident that he is the chosen one, not only by Divine Providence, but also by the militants.

For now, before launching a “new reconquest”, like the one he promised in the campaign, with the castle of Guimarães behind him, Ventura was glad of the damage it caused around him. “We broke the myth of the lands of the left. [O candidato comunista] João Ferreira didn’t even beat me in Alentejo “, he stated. Neither blocker candidate Marisa Matias capitalized on the red-lip initiative, nor did Ana Gomes take off, she said, still pointing the finger at voting companies. And there was the warning for the larger party on the right: “PSD, listen well! There will be no government in Portugal without Chega ”.

Messages arrived “from all over Europe” saying that “Portugal woke up,” he guaranteed. And he added that tonight “an avalanche has begun that will tear down all barriers in municipalities and legislatures”, made possible by the “greatest force of transformation in recent decades.” The credit is not only Ventura, even if he is chosen, it is the half million Portuguese who voted for him. As for the re-elected president, Ventura promised that the second term of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would mark “a break” with respect to the first. Ana Gomes is a different case: the resigning leader does not see “reasons to speak” with the socialist activist because her political career and her space for intervention have ended. Chega’s, he said, was starting now.

“You will never Walk alone“

Entering the room, Ventura was greeted with applause and a guarantee that “he will never walk alone.” An applause that, for a moment, hid the chill. When the fierce dispute for second place began to incline towards the rival, the headquarters of Chega became very cold; in fact, he never breathed a scent of victory.

Staring at the television or the screen of their mobile phone, with their hands in their pockets or gesturing as they spoke, the militants and supporters did not hide their apprehensive looks. A few minutes from Ventura to talk, the president of the Chega Jurisdiction Council still believed in second place. “But only in the end will we be sure,” he told Expresso. Two days after his 82nd birthday, Carlos Monteiro said he knows Ventura “outside the game,” which is “very important.”

“Ventura’s inflamed speeches have nothing to do with Ventura, who is very sociable and very friendly to everyone,” he said. “There is nothing racist about it, this is all a puppet show,” he added, referring to his former law professor. Carlos Monteiro has known Ventura for 10 years, “well enough to hold him in high regard.” But it’s not enough to write you a blank check, is it? “WHO? Him? I hand him a blank check, yeah”, finished.

In a campaign that included non-solidarity gypsies, accusations of espionage and various provocations, a case could not be missing on election night. Chega asked the journalists to leave the room where they had been for a long time and were already exercising their rights.. It was the suspicion of an unauthorized element. The order was not accepted and, in the face of protests on social networks, the advisor confirmed that the journalists, photojournalists and image reporters present corresponded, one by one, to the names on the list.

Subsequently, the campaign director and the national representative wanted to provide a clarification in this regard. “It is obvious that it is not our intention” that the media are not present, it was “just a verification of credentials,” said Rui Paulo Sousa. “We are sorry for what happened. We believe in freedom of the press. Thank you all very much and I hope you continue to do an excellent job “, he said.

Failing in line with the objectives set and, even so, claiming victory on election night is typical (and even tradition) of some parties in the system. Chega failed but won, like others before him. And Ventura only did not go to 15% (it was 11.9%), as he intended, by decision of the Portuguese people and because he was under imminent attack, he justified. In addition, it is time for polling companies to begin to understand that “voters are not being manipulated, deceiving the sense of the vote that becomes politics in Portugal”. Where have we heard this before?