During campaign day, the presidential candidate attacked the prime minister again accusing Luís Montenegro of lacking a sense of reality.
Presidential candidate André Ventura said this Tuesday that the country needs “someone with firmness and radicalism of convictions” and asked “the biggest shake” that Portugal has had since the 25th of April.
“The country needs someone with firmness and radical convictions to be at its head”, said the candidate supported by Chega, who was speaking with the Castle of Guimarães behind him, in front of large dozens of supporters.
If elected, André Ventura stated that he will not be a “President for disappointment”but rather a head of state who will “shake this country deeply”and admitted that Portugal needs the “biggest shake-up since April 25, 74”.
“We have a fight to fight that is not just a fight of conditionality – it is not just about this circumstance, this government, this moment. We have a fight to fight that runs through our history and which is a soul lifting”, he said.
Recalling that they accuse him of being an extremist and nationalist, André Ventura rejected that it is radicalism or extremism to say that “whoever enters this country has to like” its symbols.
“If you don’t respect them, you have a trip back to their country and you will have a quick trip back. What is the extremism of saying that anyone who doesn’t like these castles, that anyone who doesn’t live well with a cross is not okay in Portugal?”, asked the candidate, in an 18-minute speech, during which he claimed that the country is being “destroyed” by “uncontrolled immigration” and that there will be immigrants who want to transform the country and end traditions.
“No one is tearing down these walls,” he said, pointing to Guimarães Castle.
For the candidate, Guimarães, considered the cradle of the nation, is “a sign of struggle, resistance, values and a Christian matrix” which, he highlighted, he does not want to give up, in an intervention where he also made reference to the national flag several times.
Soon after accusing his opponents of running a campaign “based on attack and deception”, André Ventura recalled the statements made by candidate Cotrim de Figueiredo, when he stated that he did not exclude support for any candidate in the second round.
“To the point that the country has to be in order to have a presidential candidate who says: ‘I’m not in a good head, I don’t remember what I said’. João, if you’re not in a good head, this country is not for those who are not in a good head”, said the also president of Chega, who once again attacked the Prime Minister for his health being “in shambles” and the remaining candidates, who he accused of being “the support of the system”.
The leader of Chega also attacked the prime minister again, stating that the country is facing a serious health crisis and accusing Luís Montenegro of lacking a sense of reality.
“A presidential candidate who sees that health is in chaos cannot accept a prime minister saying that there is no chaos and that it is just a matter of perception”, he stated, adding that the head of the Government reveals “a huge lack of awareness of the real country”.
During the campaign day, André Ventura also highlighted that the presidential election should not be dissociated from the existence of a political project for the country.
“This has nothing to do with the election being for Prime Minister or President of the Republic. It has to do with having a project for the country or not having a project for the country”, he said.
In addition to national symbols, André Ventura also recovered words from PSD founder Francisco Sá Carneiro, when he criticized the elites for betraying the Portuguese people.
“These words should remind us of what we cannot do, which is not to betray the trust of the Portuguese”, stated the candidate who spoke of a candidacy without “destructive radicalism or cynical optimism”.
Appealing to supporters not to relax in the face of good polls, André Ventura asked “firmness to the end”.
With Lusa
