Ventura speaks of a “historic opportunity” and pressures PSD for constitutional revision

Sunday, 29 March 2026RSS
Ventura speaks of a “historic opportunity” and pressures PSD for constitutional revision

The president of Chega stated this Saturday that Portugal has a “historic opportunity” to revise the Constitution and break what he considers to be a “permanent blockade” exercised by the Constitutional Court, arguing that the process should move forward “still this year”. In a speech addressed to party mayors at the Chega municipal conference in Santarém, André Ventura claimed it “makes no sense” for institutions like the Constitutional Court to continue, as he put it, “blocking changes”. He insisted that the revision is not against any party but for the country, and appealed to the PSD to take on the “historic responsibility” of participating in the process, accusing the party of a “permanent vice” of aligning itself with the Socialist Party.

Context & Explainers

Chega

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.

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