André Ventura

André Ventura, son of a small merchant - owner of a bicycle shop,[3] and an office worker, is from Algueirão, Sintra, a suburban area. Unlike his peers, he was not raised in a religion because his parents wanted him to choose his own.[4] At 14, he became an enthusiastic Catholic, was baptised, made his first communion and confirmation. He wanted to be a priest and attended the Penafirme Seminary, a smaller seminary in the Patriarchate of Lisbon, but he did not continue his ecclesiastical formation because he fell in love.[5][4] He graduated in Law from the Law Faculty of NOVA University Lisbon, with 19 points.[6] In 2013, he finished his PhD thesis in Public Law from the Faculty of Law, University College Cork, Ireland, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology, in which he criticised "criminal populism" and "stigmatisation of minorities", revealing concern about the "expansion of police powers".[7][8]

He taught at Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, from 2013 to 2019, and at NOVA, from 2016 to 2018.[9] He was a consultant at Caiado Guerreiro, Law Firm, from 2018 to 2019. He also had a column in the conservative newspaper Correio da Manhã, the most widely read daily newspaper in the country.[10] and was a sports commentator on the TV channel CMTV, from the Cofina company, from 2014 to 2020.[11] He is also an inspector of the Tax Authority, but on leave without pay since 2014.[12]

In an interview in July 2017, in response to Ventura's statements about gypsy people, José Pinto Coelho (from PNR - far right) wrote "Unfortunately, it seems, some of 'mine' are still in the system's parties". In another, Ventura said that he "vehemently repudiate the support of the far right".[13][14] In the course of the same campaign, Ventura made several controversial statements about the gypsy community in the municipality of Loures,[15] having become the target of a criminal complaint presented by the candidacy of the city's Bloco de Esquerda, headed by Fabian Figueiredo.[16] He is accused by Pinto Coelho of stealing the speech from the PNR party.[17] In October 2017, Ventura stated that he was ready to dispute the leadership of the PSD, in case nobody else advanced against Rui Rio.[18]

On 9 April 2019, he founded the political party Chega, and three days later he joined the Basta! coalition for the 2019 European Parliamentary Elections. Failing to elect any MEP, the coalition was dissolved on 30 July 2019. He ran in the 2019 Portuguese legislative elections for Chega, as head of list for the Lisbon District, eventually being elected as the party's first Assembly Member. He claims to have positions that are "economically liberal, culturally nationalist and conservative in matters of customs".[19][20]

André Ventura was elected a member of the Assembly of the Republic for the Lisbon constituency in the 2019 Portuguese legislative election. He claims to be "the voice of common people" and an "anti-system politician". In September 2020, he presented a proposal to decrease the number of deputies from 230 to 100, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees.[21] In November, he renounces these proposals to accompany the PSD.[22] In January 2020, he proposed a 5 to 7.5% decrease in Members' salaries.[23]

He provoked an outcry in Parliament in January 2020 by proposing that Joacine Katar Moreira, a Guinea-Bissau-born Assembly member who wanted museum items from Portugal's former colonies to be returned, be "returned to her country of origin". At the 2020 convention of the Chega party, he passed a motion at the party's 2020 convention calling for the removal of ovaries from women who have abortions. He then called for its removal in the face of protests.[24]

Ventura was present at a Zero Movement protest, in front of the Assembly of the Republic. The Zero Movement is a non-official police union that has been accused of being linked to his party. He was the only politician to speak, allegedly without asking union leaders, receiving a shower of applause.[25]

In November 2020, he was fined more than €400 for discrimination against gypsy communities. In December of the same year, he was ordered to pay €3,370 for ethnic discrimination in the form of harassment. Ventura, later in a press conference at the Assembly of the Republic, stated that he would not pay the fine: "to limit the freedom of expression of a citizen, a deputy of the nation and a political leader".[26][27][28]

Ventura criticised the Minister of Justice, Francisca Van Dunem, for the release of prisoners to ease COVID-19 transmissions, saying that the measure was "infamy".[29]

Ventura criticised the State of Emergency of 17 December 2020, saying that:

" This is not really a state of emergency. It is a state of chaos over a state of chaos, which is destroying the lives of the Portuguese people without planning, that its only thing they have to give to the country is a Director of Health who says to have breakfast at Christmas and so will solve your problems."[30]

On 22 December 2020, Ventura requested the temporary suspension of his term in the Assembly to run in the 2021 Portuguese presidential election[31] but this suspension was prevented by the Parliament on 29 December.[32] On 31 December, after the decision of the majority of the parliamentary groups not to authorise the suspension of mandate, Ventura advanced with a subpoena against the Assembly of the Republic and Ferro Rodrigues, the Speaker, in the Supreme Administrative Court.[33][34][35]

On 8 February 2020, in Portalegre, Ventura announced his candidacy for the office of President of the Republic in the 2021 election.[36][37]

Ventura invited actress Maria Vieira to be his campaign director (mandatária) for the Portuguese communities abroad[38] and chose Patrícia Sousa Uva (ex-member of Chega) to be the national director. Subsequently, with the resignation of the latter, Ventura invited Rui Paulo Sousa, 7th member of the national board, to become the national campaign director.[39]

On 18 December 2020, Ventura handed 10,250 signatures of proponents to the Constitutional Court, as legally required to formalise his candidacy for Belém Palace.[40] On 30 December, his candidacy was formally accepted by the Constitutional Court.[41]

At the beginning of the electoral campaign, the president of the French National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, confirmed that she would go to Lisbon to support Ventura's presidential candidacy.[42]

In a televised debate against incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Ventura showed a photograph of the president in the Bairro da Jamaica, a poor and largely black neighbourhood where there had been tensions with the police. He accused the president of not being truly right-wing, and called the black residents in the photograph "bandits".[43]

Ventura came third with 11.9% of the vote, behind Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (60.7%) and Socialist Ana Gomes (12.9%).[44]

Ventura has said of Romani people "Many of the gypsy community that we have today – not all, but many – give a bad image of Portugal to outsiders".[4] He also believes that they are overrepresented among welfare recipients and prisoners, and this would be remedied by integrating them into the majority culture.[4]

On being compared negatively to Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, Ventura responded "I am very accustomed to that and it doesn't worry me. These are the ideas that I believe in. In addition to life imprisonment and chemical castration, I also want a reduction in Islamic migration, especially from countries known for terrorism".[4]

Ventura supports legal equality for gay people, but that same-sex couples should be in civil partnerships and not marriages.[4] He is personally opposed to abortion, but does not want the procedure to be criminalised.[4] He supports the legalisation and regularisation of prostitution as a way to protect and integrate sex workers, but believes that legalisation of recreational drugs increases drug traffic.[4] He is personally opposed to bullfighting, but opposes its sudden abolition due to the economic role it plays in some towns.[4]

In May 2020, Ventura proposed a specific containment plan for the Roma community.[45] He was lambasted for this proposal by the professional footballer Ricardo Quaresma, of Romani descent.[46]

In June 2020, Ventura organised a counter-protest the day after anti-racist concentrations were announced in honour of actor Bruno Candé, victim of a premeditated homicide. This counter-protest was made under the motto "Portugal is not racist", denying the allegation of racism in Portugal and condemning the "politically correct" associations and affirming that the counter-protest "is a manifestation of everything but white supremacy".[47][48]

He has spoken in admiration of Mariano Rajoy, conservative former prime minister of Spain.[4]

• Introdução à Fiscalidade, e-book, Lisboa (2017)
• Justiça, Corrupção e Jornalismo (co-authored with Miguel Fernandes), Vida Económica (2015)
• A Nova Justiça Internacional, Chiado Editora, Lisboa (2015)
• A Nova Administração Pública (inclui a nova Lei Geral do Trabalho em Funções Públicas anotada), Quid Juris, Lisboa (2014)
• A Reforma do IRC (com António Carlos dos Santos), Vida Económica, Lisboa (2014)
• Lições de Direito Fiscal, Chiado Editora, Lisboa (2014)
• Lições de Direito Penal, Volume I, UAL / Instituto de Direito Publico / Chiado Editora (2013), Montenegro, com 2.ª ed. revista, pela Chiado Editora, Lisboa (2008)
• A Última Madrugada do Islão, Chiado Editora, Lisboa (2009)

• André Ventura's Curriculum Vitae
• Meet André Ventura - President of Chega