Miguel A. Lopes / LUSA
Andre Ventura
Information provided by Correio da Manhã points to the admiral and the former prime minister for a possible second round, if Ventura does not get enough votes in the first round.
Chega’s leader, André Ventura, will be a candidate in the next presidential elections, according to this Sunday, citing an anonymous source.
If confirmed, Chega’s leader becomes the first name in the race, but the formal announcement is scheduled for the first quarter of next year.
André Ventura, on Tuesday, returned to run for President of the Republic in the 2026 presidential elections, and indicated that will announce its decision by the end of March.
“By the end of March, I will present my position to the party and make it public,” he guaranteed. It’s a decision I haven’t made yet either”, he indicated, guaranteeing that, if he decides to move forward, he will have “the support of the party”.
In January last year, the newspaper Nascer do Sol reported that the leader of Chega was chosen to run for the place currently occupied by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, after an internal discussion within the party.
Ventura’s decision has the support of Chega’s national leadership, which defends the presentation of its own candidacy. The party’s main objective is to guarantee passage to the second round of elections, focusing on issues such as combating illegal immigration and corruption.
Despite optimism, Chega admits a alternative plan if it fails to reach the necessary votes for a possible second round. In this scenario, he will be willing to support figures like Admiral Gouveia e Melo or the former prime minister Pedro Passos Coelhoif they advance in the presidential race.
André Ventura was a presidential candidate in 2021, coming in third place. According to data from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration, the president of Chega obtained 11.90% of the votes (496,773 votes), behind Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (60.7%) and Ana Gomes (13%) and ahead of João Ferreira (4.3%), Marisa Matias (4%), Tiago Mayan Gonçalves (3.2%) and Vitorino Silva (2.9%).
