Lisbon, Oct. 9, 2026 (Lusa) - The leader of the Portuguese far-right Chega Party on Friday accused the prime minister of lacking the qualities needed to lead the government, citing the opinion poll in which he leads voting intentions, with Luis Montenegro responding that Andre Ventura «lives for the headlines».
During this morning's fortnightly debate in Parliament, André Ventura began his speech by stating that Luís Montenegro «is not particularly well-suited to being prime minister».
Holding up several newspaper front pages, the Chega leader claimed that today's «only good news» is that «Chega has taken the lead in voting intentions in Portugal», alluding to the DN/Aximage poll, published today, in which his party leads voting intentions with 30.7%.
In response, the prime minister argued that André Ventura «lives for the headlines, lives off the headlines» and «his policy for Portugal begins and ends in the newspaper headlines», and accused the Chega leader of failing to «deliver on much of what he says».
«We operate in a different sphere, which is that of solving people's problems. We are focused on addressing the country's needs – both its immediate needs and the foundations for what the country can and must become in the medium and long term,» said Luís Montenegro.
In his request for clarification, the Chega leader once again insisted on a reduction in VAT on fuel and an exemption from this tax for a range of foodstuffs, and questioned why next year's draft state budget does not include these measures.
«The prime minister says, ‘We are not raising any taxes; we have had 920 days without tax increases.' There is no need for that – toll revenue will reach record levels, VAT revenue will reach record levels, and fuel tax revenue will reach record levels. They are not raising taxes, but they will be taking a record amount from everyone next year,» he accused.
In response, the prime minister pointed out that fuel prices currently benefit from «a discount, resulting from the Government's decisions, of around €0.23» and argued that reducing VAT would not have such a significant impact.
«Since the week of 2 March, the VAT added to fuel prices in Portugal has been set at a certain rate. Do you know what that rate is? Zero! We have refunded the full amount of VAT collected since the first week in which there was a fluctuation of more than 10 cents in the price of petrol and diesel,» said the prime minister, going on to list other measures adopted.
Montenegro argued that the government makes decisions based on the «principle of balance», considering that this is what Chega lacks.
«Do you think that if we saw giving people the opportunity to pay less for their essential goods as a positive thing, we wouldn't do it? If we lack balance, what we might do today will come at a price tomorrow, and the price to be paid tomorrow will be much higher than what is being paid now,» he maintained.
In his reply, Ventura argued that «collecting 3.8 billion in fuel taxes is not balance, it is theft».
The prime minister maintained that the government's forecast is for ISP [fuel tax] revenue to rise to a figure similar to that of 2025 «because it has fallen this year and the comparison relates precisely to the increase in the decline in ISP revenue in 2026, compared with what we anticipate for 2027», and reiterated that «the aid and support measures in force in 2026 will amount to a total of around €2.3 billion».
The exchange of accusations between the prime minister and Ventura continued, with the leader of Chega accusing the government of saying that «there is no money to reduce road tolls» but «planning to collect a further 121 million in traffic fines and from new speed cameras», and he quipped: «We should call it the Luís Montenegro speed camera».
Montenegro accused Ventura of having «absolutely no idea» and of being «all talk», and pointed out that the tolls abolished by the PS and Chega in a ‘negative coalition' «are still being paid, only instead of being paid by those who use the roads, they are paid for out of the state budget, with the added complication that the bill is now paid in full by Portuguese taxpayers; previously, foreign visitors at least paid their fair share».
He described this as «Ventura's freebie».
As for fines, the prime minister asked Ventura, «who often wants to be the icon of authority, who defends the authority of the State and the forces of law and order», whether he wants «to tell people not to pay their fines when they must be held accountable for their behaviour».
FM/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
