Former PSD deputy and current social democratic councilor, Eduardo Teixeira, will be head of Chega’s list for the Viana do Castelo circle, the party leader confirmed this Thursday, indicating that Rita Matias will be the first candidate in Setúbal.
“I am now in a position to confirm that former PSD deputy Eduardo Teixeira, and PSD councilor of the City Council, will be the head of Chega’s list for the district of Viana do Castelo”, stated André Ventura, indicating that there have been “a few months of rapprochement talks”.
André Ventura was speaking to journalists at the Assembly of the Republic, having also indicated that Rita Matias, deputy elected by the Lisbon constituency in 2022, will head Chega por Setúbal’s list for the legislative elections on March 10th.
Bruno Nunes, who was the head of the list for Setúbal in the last elections, will join the list for Lisbon, said Ventura, noting that “he is a councilor in Loures”.
“Deputy Pedro Frazão will be the head of Chega por Santarém’s list, repeating the candidacy that already took place in 2022”, added the party leader.
This Thursday, the PSD council of Viana do Castelo announced that it had withdrawn, with immediate effect, political confidence in councilor and activist Eduardo Teixeira, for disrespecting that political structure and tarnishing the party’s name.
Later, in statements to Lusa, Eduardo Teixeira accused the party’s council of restricting citizens’ freedom, guaranteeing that that body cannot remove political trust from members.
In addition to Eduardo Teixeira, PSD deputy António Maló de Abreu is already confirmed on Chega’s lists. Rui Cristina, elected by the social democratic bench in 2022, is tipped to be Chega’s candidate for the Algarve.
On that occasion, André Ventura also addressed the situation in Madeira again, insisting that the president of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, as well as the president of the Funchal City Council, Pedro Calado, must resign, or at least suspend, their mandates.
The Chega leader also defended that the PSD president should “immediately withdraw political trust” from these two leaders.
Ventura also criticized the reaction of Luís Montenegro, who rejected on Wednesday comparing the investigations affecting the president of the Government of Madeira and the prime minister, António Costa, arguing that “the differences are more than many”.
“I don’t understand how we can have one word for one case and another word for another,” he said, accusing Montenegro of trying to “whitewash the situation.”
The president of the Regional Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, was named a defendant on Wednesday in a process that led to the arrest of the mayor of Funchal and two managers of the AFA construction group.
The Judiciary Police carried out around 100 searches in Madeira (including at Miguel Albuquerque’s residence) and in various locations on the continent in an investigation into suspected crimes of active and passive corruption, economic participation in business, malfeasance, improper receipt or offer of advantage, abuse of powers and influence peddling.