Statement follows government’s endorsement of former PS leader for top job
CHEGA leader André Ventura – smarting from last night’s election ‘anticlimax’ – has refused point blank to join prime minister Luís Montenegro in endorsing the candidacy of former Socialist secretary-general António Costa for a top job in Brussels.
First, he made it clear that he, as CHEGA’s leader, would not support António Costa’s candidacy for presidency of the European Council or “for any (political) office in the world…” Then he accused Portugal’s centre-right prime minister of being the Socialists’ “crutch in Portugal” and “holding the hand of Socialism”.
Last night’s results show that CHEGA ‘lost’ around 800,000 voters (since the legislative elections three months’ ago) – a reverse that clearly Mr Ventura had not seen coming, particularly in light of extreme right-wing gains in other countries.
SIC Notícias queries “where have CHEGA’s voters gone?”
Commentators last night suggest they may simply have seen the light over the last few weeks of ‘tactical manoeuvres’ by the party in parliament that showed little sign of ‘national interest’, and much more of political expediency.
It also didn’t help that André Ventura uploaded a doctored video during the campaign – and then accused journalists of being ‘enemies of the people’ for pointing this out.
Luís Montenegro, on the other hand, continues to show restraint in his comments and opinions, announcing last night that “it is possible that the presidency of the European Council is destined to a Socialist candidate. If dr. António Costa was to candidate for that position, AD and the government of Portugal would not simply support him but do everything for his candidacy to be a success”.
Quizzed over the judicial process potentially involving Mr Costa (Operation Influencer) ‘still unresolved’, Mr Montenegro repeated “our decision has been made” – going on to applaud the Portuguese for the way they voted yesterday – “continuing to be a reference of moderation in Europe, of founding values of the European Union”.
