Chega wanted to end the position of prime minister (and Ventura’s real intention in the presidential elections)

The idea of ​​a presidential regime, the “least likely” that has not been confirmed and the risk of overestimating the alleged defeat.

When Chega became the second party with the most deputies in the Assembly of the Republic, as a result of the legislative elections in May this year, André Ventura withdrew from the upcoming presidential elections.

In January of this year, Ventura informed the other Chega deputies that he would be a candidate for president of the Republic.

However, three days after the legislative elections, one admitted: “In view of the vote of confidence that the Portuguese gave me to be prime minister – I haven’t achieved it yet, but they gave me a vote of confidence to be prime minister – today is less likely I want to apply than a month ago.”

After all, there was no retreat: in September is he really a candidate to the succession of Marcelo Rebelo e Sousa.

However, Ventura has already publicly stated that he prefers to be prime minister, not president of the Republic. In fact, on the night of the 2022 legislative elections, the phrase became famous: “António Costa, I’m going after you now!”.

The priority in the presidential elections

So, what is André Ventura’s idea of ​​being (again) a candidate for President of the Republic?

In fact, this question came up in the final stretch of a recent CNN program: “If you always said you wanted to be prime minister, why are you running for president?” – and Ventura left the studio soon after, after Pedro Costa’s suggestion: “If it were me choosing, I would have chosen another: ‘Why do you scream so much?’, which was another of the questions”.

Yours priority in presidential elections is not winning: it is setting the media agendareinforced Margarida Davim at TSF. In other words, showing up, being present on television every day, being on the campaign trail talking about the issues you want to be talked about. Continue preparing your path towards the position of prime minister.

The same Margarida Davim indicates that, despite not having the result she wanted in the local authorities, Chega is gaining political ground, ideological ground. That’s what your leader wants.

Avoid remains

Furthermore, you may want avoid a fall compared to , when he had almost 23% of the votes. Meanwhile, the elections took place and Chega has already seen a drop to around half of its percentage, close to 12%.

It should be remembered that, whether in the local government or in the (less than 10%), André Ventura was not a candidate. And Chega fell.

Although, as I had already warned, Chega did not lose the local elections held less than a month ago. It did not reach 30 Municipal Chambers, it was the sixth political force in terms of number of municipalities, but went up a lot at the local level. The number of votes tripled, for example.

Anselmo Crespo reinforced that “it’s better not to overestimate” Chega’s alleged defeat in the local elections.

End the position

In the same article, Anselmo Crespo warns that André Ventura does not want to be president of the Republic.

Between being prime minister and being president of the Republic, probably no Portuguese doubts: André Ventura wants to be prime minister.

But it is curious to remember what André Ventura himself said in 2019: he wanted to end the position of prime minister.

At the time, the president of Chega said that one of his priorities was a presidential regime: “The guiding figure for the State’s general policy would become the President of the Republic.”

The idea was clear: “Extinction of the figure of the prime ministerwho will be replaced, in the general leadership of the country, by the President of the Republic and then by the Government with the portfolios, as happens in presidential systems”.

The advantages of the presidential regime, argued André Ventura, were having a cheaper, more transparent and “much clearer” system – people voted directly for the person, the head of the Government and not for the party.