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Detaching himself several times from the opinions expressed by the Chega electorate and even contradicting what appears on the party’s program, André Ventura defended, in an interview with Lusa, same-sex marriage and assumed, as a left, in favor of decriminalization abortion. He denied wanting to bring the Republic of Salazar to the present and, regarding Belém, he criticized Marcelo, Ana Gomes and Marisa Matias.
Chega’s presidential candidate was in favor of homosexual marriage, adding that the party itself has people of diverse orientations. “I believe – I have no data on that – that Chega has homosexuals among his thousands of militants. Among the leaders, eventually. And I want him to continue like this”,
“I, if I had a homosexual child … (hesitation), personally – maybe some people don’t like this – I would have no problem with that because I have many homosexual friends, some of them the brightest I have ever met, that they speak very well to me and that they realize that I have never had any wave of combativeness towards homosexuals or the LGBT community ”, he responded to the Lusa agency, when asked what his reaction would be if he had a gay son, taking into account Account for the various positions taken against minority rights What if you married on the same terms as heterosexual couples? “My personal position is that a male or female couple should not have fewer rights from the point of view of their presence in society than a male-female couple”, he replied, again emphasizing that “perhaps some part of Chega’s electorate” disagrees.
The right he dreamed of, he considered “it is a right in which people unite around causes, convictions and not personal conditions “, why “Being homosexual does not devalue anyone and it does not devalue the capacity for political combat.”
The national-populist leader also gave as an example the abortion, an issue on which he also has a position of possible “disagreement with the party base.” “I have always said that, ethically, I understand and am against abortion, but I do not propose its criminalization, because it does not work, it does not solve it. I understand that the majority in the party thinks it must be a crime, but it impacts me as a lawyer and politician. “, he concluded.
Ventura affirmed that the negotiation that culminated in the viability of the new Regional Government of the Azores (PSD, CDS and PPM) was a “process of progress and setbacks.” “The PPM, I think, had 2% of the votes, or something like that. We had almost 6%. Those who should be in the Government would be us, but we did not want to,” he stressed, rejecting that support for the formation of the new Azorean regional executive has, that is, a “crutch.”
“I don’t think Chega was anyone’s crutch,” he defended himself, noting that the party “said that it would not yield if there was a convergence on some points, and that it would not go to the government.”
The president of Chega added that “he would not accept that any of the Chega Açores elect participate in this government, for various reasons” and that he gave instructions to regional leaders not to happen. In Ventura’s opinion, o Enough, you only had two options: vote against the PS government, which “would never allow”, or enable a right-wing government, “with conditions”.
“Can this happen here in the Republic? Power, can it”, he admitted, defending however that it will be necessary “Deeper reforms, both in terms of justice, as well as the political system and the tax system”. “We will only accept to enable a right-wing government here if these conditions are ensured, and if they are not, we will vote against,” he stressed, admitting that if this is not the case, “people will say” that “the anti-system has become a distribution of plazas”. of the system”.
In September, at the II National Convention of the party, André Ventura had promised to reject coalitions with other parties while he was leader of Chega – “As long as I sit in that middle chair, the coalitions don’t even see them!” moment.
Chega’s announced presidential candidate rejects the labels of “extreme right, fascist, xenophobic and racist” that many attribute to the party and also any sympathy for the Estado Novo regime or nostalgia for the then dictator. “There is no need for Salazar in any corner”, but for a Fourth Republic, he defended, calling Chega an “anti-system” party. “What is needed is an André Ventura on every corner,” he said humorously.
“The Republic headed by Dr. António de Oliveira Salazar, most of the time, did not resolve [os problemas do país] and it delayed us greatly in various ways. It did not allow us to have the development that we could have had, especially in the post-WWII setting. Portugal could have developed extraordinarily and we are left behind, as are the Spanish “, he stated.
Interestingly, before the interview at the party headquarters office in Lisbon began, the enthusiastic national-populist press office pulled several volumes of Salazar off the shelf behind the party leader so that they would not appear in the frame of the images. . “With me they are comfortable because I have no nostalgia for a Republic in which I did not live. That is not what moves me. I see Salazar like other characters in history. I am not going to judge what is better or worse: if Salazar or Cunhal or Hitler or Stalin. We, in Portugal, to be able to give a real advance in the political question, we have to leave the ghosts of the past “he continued.
André Ventura said that his “mission” will be “fulfilled” when a 24-year-old who lives in Switzerland or England and his parents ask him which country he wants to go to, he says ‘I want to go to Portugal.’ a young man of 24 who tells me that he does not have a job in Portugal and wants to go to Switzerland or Germany, I have not yet fulfilled my mission. During Salazar’s time, in the 1960s, the Portuguese emigrated as never before to France, Switzerland, Germany. [a missão], this country will be the pole of attraction of Europe, the gold of Europe ”, he promised.
In Ventura’s interpretation, Chega is “a party of the right, in the classic classification -with a vision of the country of values, defense of institutions and the market-, but in the anti-system logic, which is a more appropriate classification than that of the extreme right, extreme left, Left Right “.
“Chega has parts of the country where the militants come predominantly from the left spectrum, such as Setúbal, Beja, Évora, Portalegre. In Portalegre, it is the second or third in terms of polls. Our constituency came from the PCP, BE, some from the PS and , as it happens everywhere, from PSD and CDS ”, he described.
During the interview, the Belém candidate also defended the holding of legislative elections “in the short term.” Giving the example of the approval of the State Budget, the candidate considered that a President of the Republic “should never allow the Government, already fallen, to lose the support of one of its left-wing partners, the Bloco de Esquerda, and go fishing props. “
In André Ventura’s opinion, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has to “stop and think about what legitimacy this government has, what conditions it has to govern”, but the current head of state “wants everything except elections”, first, because Chega was going to grow. a lot. Secondly, because it would generate “instability in the parliamentary framework, and he is the most penalized for it”: “He wants to appear as a referee, but we all know Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, he is the referee of the country where there are no problems. When a problem begins to appear, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is the referee who disappears.”.
For Ventura, Marcelo will have been “probably the president’s most complicit [de um Governo] of the history of the Third Republic “:” Complicity with the Government, I think that was what all Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa bet on since the beginning of his mandate. “
The candidate recalled that the head of state “had already said, as a commentator, that the Portuguese never put all their eggs in the same basket”, and that is why he decided “not to harass the PS Government”, because if the Government “changes to True, it is more difficult to “get reelected.”
For André Ventura, “this can be seen in several things”, for example “in the next call to approve the State Budget”. In fact, I have never seen a president so enthusiastic about a government like Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. (…) It often served as a lightning rod for the Government when the tone rose in the Assembly of the Republic, although since Rui Rio never entered it, it went up like that, but it was always the lightning rod of António Costa “, concretized.
Expect twice what the polls show
Ventura acknowledged that the next elections to the Presidency of the Republic can be translated into a “difficult fight”, but stressed that he is running because he believes that it is what he should do and that it will be worth it. He was also convinced that he will be able to “have twice what the polls anticipate” and that he will compete in a second round.
Regarding the campaign, which may not happen in the usual way and with large concentrations due to the pandemic, the candidate admitted a “reformulation of the campaign models” due to restrictions that may still be in force, but guaranteed that “the caravan will will go “, because he likes to be with the voters, rejecting an Internet campaign.
“We will have to adapt, as we do in events, now I am not going to stop going to places because our advantage is this,” he defended, exemplifying that the rallies can go from the street to the auditoriums, with marked seats, and that the dinners can give way to cocktails. André Ventura only admitted “some kind of virtual campaign model” if the restrictions on circulation are still in effect in January, but he hopes “they won’t.”
He will request suspension of the deputy mandate
Asked about his intention to suspend the mandate of the deputy to participate in the full-time campaign, the candidate indicated that he will request the suspension “as soon as he presents the process” for the officialization of the candidacy and that he will fight to be accepted. “If necessary to the Constitutional Court “.
Regarding the announcement that he will leave the party leadership if Ana Gomes gets ahead of him, Ventura reiterated his intention: “Yes, obviously, when I say things it is to maintain. What I meant by that is that I have to assume responsibility.” and conclusions from the fact that Dr. Ana Gomes has more [votos] that I “.
“Ana Gomes does not generate in people the necessary empathy, the necessary prestige, the enthusiasm necessary to be a good presidential candidate. In my opinion, he has surrounded himself with people who are not helping his campaign either, as is the case with Paulo Pedroso. , but not only. And therefore, there is no reason for her to stay in front of me, it would mean that I did a bad job and I have to draw consequences from it, I keep what I say, “he defended.
Marisa Matias, the candidate supported by BE, “brings nothing new” and is losing voters to the Socialists. André Ventura also said that he will maintain a critical stance towards the other candidates and that he will maintain “the tone” and “the record” that he has adopted so far, refusing to be an insult.
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