BE accuses Montenegro of "selling its soul" to Chega

The leader of the Left Bloc (BE), Mariana Mortágua, accused Prime Minister Luís Montenegro this Saturday of “selling his soul” to Chega and refused to enter into a “populist drift” on matters relating to immigration.

"Luís Montenegro sold his soul, the PSD sold its soul. To maintain power, to go to the local elections claiming to have a firm hand on immigration, and because he understands that this is a populist policy that generates votes and allows a dispute with the far right, he abandoned all his values and sold his soul to Chega," Mariana Mortágua told Lusa news agency in Viseu.

Chega's president, André Ventura, said this Saturday that he has a "principle of agreement" with the AD regarding some guidelines for changing the nationality law, assuming that there was a "commitment to block a series of hearings" requested by the left.

"I want to share some news: this is not how you fight the far right. In no country where traditional right-wing parties have given in to the far-right agenda have they been able to stop the far right from growing," warned the BE coordinator.

In his opinion, "what they're doing is legitimizing the far-right camp, what Luís Montenegro is doing is saying that André Ventura is right."

"And he doesn't. No matter how populist his ideas are, they're wrong. And by giving André Ventura the right, he's allowing far-right ideas to advance, and he's doing so to maintain power," he lamented.

The Left Bloc's sole member of parliament assured that she is available "to discuss immigration and the integration of immigrants in Portugal," but not to "enter into a populist drift that will not solve any problems."

"It will exacerbate the problems of Portuguese society, the lack of integration, the economy, and public services," he warned, noting that many immigrants work in hospitals and local authorities.

At a press conference at the party's headquarters in Lisbon, André Ventura began by emphasizing "the understanding" and "negotiation" between Chega and AD regarding changes to the foreigners' law and the creation of the new National Foreigners and Borders Unit within the PSP, approved in a specialized session on Friday in parliament.

Noting that, in the case of the nationality law, this was postponed until "the beginning of the next legislative session because there are many hearings to be held, some of which are mandatory," the president of Chega offered a guarantee.

“Here too, a principle of agreement was reached between the two parliamentary leaders [Chega and AD] under some guidelines for changing legislation on nationality, which we hope to implement by the beginning of September,” he said.

Ventura said that both his party and those supporting the government "failed a series of hearings requested by the left on this matter."