France’s extreme-right Marine Le Pen praises
Portugal’s André Ventura
By Natasha
Donn -21st September 2020
With a
number of political parties warning of the growth in Portugal of extremist
groups, it’s perhaps a moot sign that France’s Marine Le Pen – president of the
French National Union (aka National Front) – has praised André Ventura, the one
MP representing right-wing Chega, as a “great political leader” who will take
his party “to victory”.
Ms Le Pen’s
eulogy, in the form of a video, was played during Chega’s national convention
in Évora over the weekend – an event which could hardly have gone without more
chaos.
The
‘problem’ involved internal conflicts within the party – and delegates unhappy
with Ventura’s choice for people on the board of direction.
In the end
after three votes and a lot of angst Ventura got the names he wanted – largely
because by this time many of those taking part in the voting had gone home.
But the
‘story’ here is not that yet another political party has internal difficulties,
it is that this is a party that claims to ‘represent the Portuguese people’
with a clear far-right agenda.
Other
personalities at the convention included the front woman of the Ordem dos
Enfermeiros (nurses council) Ana Rita Cavaco – more usually associated with the
centre-right PSD, not the far-right. (She did stress that she had come ‘simply
to kiss’ Ventura as an old friend. Her militancy she said remains with the
PSD…)
But Chega’s
focus, explains Expresso, is to shake everything up. Ventura’s first mission is
to challenge President Marcelo in the presidential elections in January. Then
it is set on causing “a big surprise” in the municipal elections later in the
year.
Ultimately
Ventura hopes to take the party to the point that it becomes the 3rd major
force in the country (behind PS and PSD).
With both
these traditional main parties already losing ground hand-over-fist in this
unprecedented year beset with the usual scandals/ political ineptitude and
financial uncertainty, societal dissatisfaction is almost certain to increase –
thus Chega’s goal may not be that far-fetched.
Speaking at
the weekend at a workshop in Aveiro, centre-right CDS/ PP MEP Nuno Melo
stressed there is no dishonour in being centre-right, but party members should
resist “becoming something else because it is fashionable”.
Marine Le
Pen’s rubber-stamp of approval may help dent any such compulsion.
Her words
described a “journey to a new world” which she felt Portugal would now be doing
hand-in-hand with her own party.
“Brave and
proud Portugal” will “rediscover its place” with Chega, said Le Pen who is
currently focused purportedly on ‘changing the EU from within’.
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