On the campaign trail in Leiria for the second time in three days, André Ventura repeats a new slogan. “To hell with the elections, all of them. To hell with the elections,” he replies when asked by journalists whether his visit to areas affected by Storm Kristin could benefit his ongoing presidential campaign.
Ventura parks presidential campaign caravan in Leiria and tries out slogan: "To hell with the elections"
Saturday, 31 January 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
Storm Kristin was a named Atlantic storm that struck Portugal in late 2024, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds (gusts exceeding 100 km/h in some areas), and significant coastal wave action. The storm caused widespread flooding, roof collapses, fallen trees, and power outages across several districts.
IPMA issued orange and red warnings for affected regions, and ANEPC activated emergency response plans. The impact was particularly severe in flood-prone areas of the Lisbon metropolitan area and the Tagus and Mondego river basins, where drainage systems were overwhelmed.
Storm Kristin highlighted recurring vulnerabilities in Portugal's infrastructure during extreme weather events — including urban drainage capacity, riverbank management, and the need for updated emergency response coordination. Residents in storm-affected areas were advised to follow civil protection guidance, avoid coastal zones and riverbanks, and report damage through municipal services.
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.
