Chega announces demonstration and referendum proposal on immigration

The party intends to use the proposal as a bargaining chip to make the 2025 State Budget viable.

Chega’s leader André Ventura

Speaking at a press conference in Lisbon, Chega’s leader, André Ventura, announced that the party will submit a proposal for a national referendum on immigration quotas to Parliament in September.

According to Ventura, the proposed referendum will ask the Portuguese whether there should be an “annual limit on immigrants in the country, defined in advance by law, which can be reviewed” periodically and also whether or not they “agree with the definition of quotas previously defined by areas of specialisation and by the needs of the economy”.

He added that the referendum should be held “on a date to be defined jointly by the various sovereign bodies, but that it should be held at the beginning of next year, in January”.

He described this as one of the “three major proposals that are essential” for the party to support the 2025 State Budget.

Chega also wants “financial reinforcement for border control” and a review of “subsidies and social support paid to foreigners”.

During the press conference, André Ventura also insisted on the idea that “nobody should receive a social benefit in Portugal before they have paid into the Portuguese social security system for five years”.

Demonstration on September 21

Chega links this proposal to the demonstration planned in Lisbon on September 21 to protest against what the party considers ‘uncontrolled immigration and insecurity in the streets’.

This issue has been one of Chega’s main flags and gained even more relevance during the European elections, making it a priority in the party’s new political cycle.

Chega is planning for this to be the biggest demonstration ever organised by the party and, according the DN, right-wing group such as the 1143 (whose social media accounts were recently shut down following a New York Times complaint) have responded positively to the call.

To achieve this goal, Ventura’s party is mobilising its local structures across the country, encouraging them to organise and travel to Lisbon on September 21.

The intention is to highlight the issue of immigration, a topic that has been frequently addressed in the speeches of the party’s leaders and in their social media campaigns.

Government says no

On Thursday, the government suggested that it will not be open to Chega’s demand for a referendum on immigration as a quid pro quo for making the 2025 State Budget viable.

During a press briefing, the Minister for the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, didn't answer journalists' questions about Chega's proposal with a resounding “no”, but he left the message between the lines.

‘The government is very committed to fair and sincere negotiations with everyone, all parties, to negotiate on matters in the State Budget,’ he said at a press conference after the Council of Ministers meeting in Lisbon.

Final word

But even if the Government agrees to make the Chega initiative viable in Parliament, there will only be a referendum with the backing of the President of the Republic.

According to article 36 of the Organic Law on the Referendum Regime, ‘if the President of the Republic decides not to call a referendum, he shall communicate it to the Assembly of the Republic, in a reasoned message, or to the Government, in writing, stating the reason for the refusal” and “the proposal for a referendum by the Assembly of the Republic refused by the President of the Republic cannot be renewed in the same legislative session”.