André Ventura, leader of the Chega party, has announced he will appeal to the Constitutional Court after the Lisbon Court of Appeal upheld a ruling ordering the removal of a poster stating 'Roma people must obey the law'. The court deemed the message discriminatory and beyond the limits of free speech, contradicting a separate Public Prosecutor's decision to archive a criminal inquiry into the same posters. Legal experts argue the Court of Appeal's ruling highlights the limits of free expression regarding hate speech, while criticizing the Public Prosecutor's reasoning as unfounded.
Discriminatory posters: Ventura accuses Court of Appeal of 'censorship' and announces appeal to Constitutional Court
Friday, 13 March 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.
The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.
