Chega (political party)

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CHEGA
PresidentAndré Ventura
Vice-PresidentsDiogo Pacheco de Amorim
Nuno Afonso
José Dias
Gabriel Mithá Ribeiro
António Tânger Correia
Founded9 April 2019
Merger ofCitizenship and Christian Democracy (2020)
Split fromSocial Democratic Party
HeadquartersLisbon
Membership (2021)27,962[1]
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing to far-right
European affiliationIdentity and Democracy Party[6]
Colours  Dark blue
Assembly of the Republic
1 / 230
European Parliament
0 / 21
Regional parliaments
2 / 104
Local government
(Mayors)
0 / 308
Local government
(Parishes)
0 / 3,085
Website
partidochega.pt

Chega (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʃe.ɣɐ] officially stylised as CHEGA!; lit. 'Enough') is a national conservative, right-wing populist political party in Portugal formed in 2019 by André Ventura. It is characterized as being between the right-wing[7] and far-right of the political spectrum.[8][9][10]

Its inclusion in the register of Portuguese political parties was accepted by the Constitutional Court on 9 April 2019.[11] On the of 12 April 2019, it announced that the head of its list to the European Parliament is Ventura. Chega was part of the Basta! coalition for the 2019 European Parliament election in Portugal.[12] In the 2019 Portuguese legislative election it won one seat in the Portuguese Parliament.[13]

Ideology[]

Chega considers itself a party with nationalist,[14] conservative and personalist roots.[15] It defends the promotion of an effective judicial system and the decrease of the State's intervention in the economy. The party also presents itself as national conservative and social conservative.[16]

The party advocates for a decrease of the tax incidence, considering the current tributary system to be "brutal and aggressive to the ones who work and build wealth, taking away half of their salaries". It additionally defends a reduction of bureaucracy, asserting that it is one of the main reasons for the "Portuguese competitive economic backwardness".[15]

The party supports life imprisonment and chemical castration.[citation needed] Some members also support the death penalty for crimes such as terrorism or child abuse; in a 2020 party referendum, 44% voted in favor.[17][18]

Being a strong proponent of Western Civilization, the party also positions itself against radical Islamism and proposes stronger border control and a decrease of mass and illegal immigration.[15] It has been also described as antiziganist.[19][20][21]

Election results[]

National legislative elections[]

Date Head of list Cl. Votes % +/- Seats +/- Status
2019 André Ventura 7th 67,826 1.29 New
1 / 230
 New Opposition

European elections[]

Date Head of list Cl. Votes % +/- Seats +/-
2019 Basta! 0

Presidential elections[]

Date Candidate First Round
Cl. Votes %
2021 André Ventura 3rd 493,162 11.89

Regional Elections[]

Madeira Autonomous Region[]

Date Cl. Votes % +/- Seats +/- Status
2019 13.º 619 0,43% New
0 / 47
 New Extra-parliamentary

Azores Autonomous Region[]

Date Cl. Votes % +/- Seats +/- Status
2020 4.º 5 260 5,06% New
2 / 57
 New Confidence and supply

Leadership elections[]

The 2020 Chega leadership election was held on 6 September 2020. André Ventura was re-elected with more than 99% of the vote, facing no opposition.[22][23]

In 2020, the press notes the "guerrilla atmosphere" prevailing within the party, the result of tensions between the different factions that make up the party.[24]

Critical response[]

Due to its anti-establishment, anti-immigration, anti-Islam and populist stances,[25] Chega has been the target of numerous critics who underline the party's extreme views on various subjects, some of which include the negative comments regarding immigration and minorities, namely the Roma community,[26][27] its opposition to certain aspects of the constitution,[28][29] its criticism of the judicial leniency regarding serious crimes,[30][31] and governmental over-expenditure with public services.[32]

In response to some of the mainstream criticism, the party's president, André Ventura, denounced the accusations of racism, claiming that Chega defends equal rights and duties, and that it "doesn't desire a country on which minorities can believe they have more rights than others simply for being minorities".[33] On the 27th of June 2020, the party organized a protest entitled "Portugal is not racist", where Ventura further mentioned that there is no structural racism in Portugal, and that the political left uses racism as a pretext to foment political agendas.[34]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Figueiredo, Inês André (10 March 2021). "Só um em cada cinco militantes do Chega inscritos nos cadernos eleitorais votou em Ventura". Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Socialist Antonio Costa wins Portugal election, will continue 'contraption' coalition". Euronews. 7 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Portugal's Socialists win election, now eye alliances". Star Tribune. 7 October 2019. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Portugal ya no es la excepción: la ultraderecha entra en el Parlamento". La Razón. 7 October 2019.
  5. ^ "The instinctive multilateralist: Portugal and the politics of cooperation". European Council on Foreign Relations. 2 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Chega oficializa ligação à extrema direita europeia". www.sabado.pt (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Livre makes history in Portugal: not just first black woman MP, but first man in a skirt". The Portugal Resident. 28 October 2019.
  8. ^ Carvalho, Bruno Amaral de (12 April 2019). "A extrema-direita chega a Portugal?" [Has the far-right arrived in Portugal?]. Contacto (in Portuguese).
  9. ^ Almeida, São José (26 January 2019). "Chega um partido populista de extrema-direita a Portugal" [A far-right populist party has arrived in Portugal]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  10. ^ "'Politico' highlights poor adhesion of Portugal to the populist movement". Jornal Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2019. News article on the campaign for Europeans Elections refers to the meager chance that the coalition "Basta!" to elect a MEP and advances the reasons for the country to resist the wave of far-right that reached the rest of Europe.
  11. ^ "TC > Partidos Políticos > Partidos registados e suas denominações, siglas e símbolos". www.tribunalconstitucional.pt.
  12. ^ "Coligação BASTA assume que objetivo é eleger eurodeputados". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 21 December 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  13. ^ Del Barrio, Javier (26 December 2019). "Partido de extrema direita português criado há seis meses ganha voz no Parlamento". El País (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Portugal election result cements modest gains for Europe's centre-left". The Guardian. 7 October 2019.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Manifesto". Partido Político CHEGA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  16. ^ Rainho, Vítor; Martinho, Beatriz. "André Ventura: 'Sou contra o aborto mas nunca condenaria uma mulher que aborta'". Jornal SOL. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  17. ^ https://tekdeeps.com/chega-militants-fail-death-penalty-and-re-elect-andre-ventura/
  18. ^ https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lCZzmR3WkEkJ:https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/en/news/eleicoes-diretas-do-chega-chamam-11-313-militantes-a-referendar-andre-ventura-e-a-pena-de-morte-633261+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au
  19. ^ "Pastoral dos Ciganos considera racistas e ilegais declarações de André Ventura". Observador. 8 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Figuras públicas e associações repudiam afirmações de André Ventura sobre ciganos". Observador. 6 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Confinar ciganos? Quaresma responde a André Ventura: "A vida é demasiado preciosa para ouvirmos vozes de burros"". Radio Renascença. 6 May 2020.
  22. ^ "André Ventura reeleito presidente do Chega com 99,1% dos votos". TVI24 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  23. ^ Ralha, Leonardo (5 September 2020). "Eleições diretas do Chega chamam 11.313 militantes a "referendar" André Ventura e a pena de morte". O Jornal Económico (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  24. ^ "Ameaças, jogos de poder e ligações perigosas do Chega". Visão (in Portuguese). 9 December 2020.
  25. ^ Mendes, Mariana S.; Dennison, James (19 June 2020). "Explaining the emergence of the radical right in Spain and Portugal: salience, stigma and supply". West European Politics. 44 (4): 752–775. doi:10.1080/01402382.2020.1777504. S2CID 225650718.
  26. ^ Ribeiro, Gabriel (20 December 2020). "Ciganos, negros, islâmicos e Chega: a "mão invisível" do liberalismo social". Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  27. ^ Demony, Catarina (8 January 2021). "Reporters walk out on Portuguese, French far-right leaders over COVID-19 fears". Reuters. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  28. ^ Vitorino, Sérgio (20 October 2020). "André Ventura quer mudar Constituição para atacar enriquecimento ilícito". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  29. ^ Ralha, Leonardo (14 October 2020). "Projeto de revisão constitucional do Chega quer impor trabalho comunitário a incendiários". Jornal Económico (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  30. ^ "Chega diz que Estado tem de cortar despesa "supérflua"". TSF (in Portuguese). 26 May 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  31. ^ Monteiro, Ana (17 January 2020). "André Ventura: o candidato anti-sistema gerado pelo próprio sistema". Sic Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  32. ^ Marchi, Riccardo (21 December 2019). "Um olhar exploratório sobre o partido Chega". Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  33. ^ Carlos, João (2 July 2020). ""Portugal não é um país racista, mas existe racismo em Portugal"". DW (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  34. ^ "Chega manifestou-se em Lisboa para dizer que "Portugal não é racista"". Observador (in Portuguese). 2 August 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

External links[]

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