Ventura accuses Marcelo of making statements that “are a betrayal of the country”

André Ventura expressed his astonishment at the words of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in relation to the current and previous prime ministers, before the Foreign Press Association and mainly condemned the position then defended on colonialism and slavery in the History of Portugal.

The President of the Republic recognized Portugal’s responsibilities for crimes committed during the colonial era, suggesting the payment of reparations for past mistakes.

For André Ventura, This position by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa “constitutes a betrayal of the country” and he even went so far as to say that he would “ask for the dismissal” of the head of state, “if that were possible” at the constitutional level in Portugal.

“The President was not the representative of Portugal, he was the representative of other countries, but he was not elected by Angola, nor Cape Verde, nor by Timor, nor by Brazil. He was elected by the Portuguese and he must not forget that” , accused Ventura.

Bloco, Livre and PAN also considered this Wednesday that the President of the Republic should retract the statements he made about the current and previous prime ministers, while Chega accused him of “betrayal of the country” when talking about the History of Portugal.

These positions were transmitted to journalists, in the Assembly of the Republic, in reaction to recent words spoken by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at a dinner with journalists from the Foreign Press Association in Lisbon.

The presidents of the PSD Parliamentary Groups, Hugo Soares, and PS, Alexandra Leitão, refused to comment, despite the head of state having made references to Luís Montenegro and António Costa. PCP deputy António Filipe had the same option.

The coordinator of the Bloco de Esquerda, Mariana Mortágua, the parliamentary leader of Livre, Isabel Mendes Lopes, and the PAN deputy Inês Sousa Real particularly regretted the “tasteless and prejudiced” references about rurality, which she attributed to Luís Montenegro, and also about an alleged “oriental” influence on António Costa’s personal conduct.