Chega wants to abolish fees throughout the territory

This Thursday, Chega pledged to abolish all tolls if he governed, indicating that he would create a “government commission” in the first month of taking office to immediately put an end to those in the interior of the country and on the Via do -Infante.

“If Chega becomes the government on the 10th, in the first 30 days we will create a commission to abolish tolls throughout the country, a commission that will lay the foundation for the abolition of tolls throughout the territory,” the Chega leader said on the initiative of the fifth day of the official campaign for legislative elections on March 10.

Speaking at a lunch/rally in Macedo de Cavaleiros, Bragança district, Andre Ventura also said that “the first step that must be taken immediately is the immediate abolition of tolls in the interior of the country and on Via do Infante.”

“We do not believe that the PS will ever put an end to toll roads,” he stressed, noting that the current outgoing Prime Minister António Costa “promised to abolish tolls on the Via do Infante” but did not do so , and that the PS Secretary General “voted against Chega’s proposal to abolish tolls.”

And he guaranteed that Chega would “even end the tariffs in Portugal because it is a deep injustice.”

Andre Ventura argued that the “very significant reduction” of fares in the hinterland and Via do Infante would “cost the state between 105 and 115 million euros” and contrasted this with the backlog in the construction of the Lisbon metro, saying, that it amounted to “100 million euros”, and argued that the problem “is not that there is less money” but that the management is carried out by “a bunch of incompetent people”.

President Chegi used his presence in the border district to set an example for Spain and stated that “if countries of much greater extent and size can do it”, then Portugal can do it too.

“PS and PSD are even saying they can use tolls to fund social security. There are always good reasons to leave it as is: they don’t want to lose the toll money because they know they’ve become dependent on that money. and I don’t want to lose it in any way,” he accused.

Andre Ventura also believed that the interior territories were “already negatively impacted” because they were far from the centers of decision-making, and argued that “the country becomes more remote, poorer and more unequal” the further away it is from these territories.

“Those who live in the Bragança area cannot feel less privileged than those who live in Faro, Porto or Lisbon,” he said, noting that tolls “harm companies, create unfair competition and prevent development “

Earlier, the head of the Chega por Braganza list, José Pires, emphasized the difficulties faced by the population of the district in areas such as health or mobility, and left Ventura with a request: “Doctor Andre, do not forget us.”

In the last legislative elections in 2022, Chega was the third most voted political force in Bragança, but failed to elect deputies, who were distributed between the PS (two) and PSD (one).

Upon arrival at the rally, the leader of Chegi was approached by a militant and leader of the CDS-PP, who was the local candidate of that party and also the leader of the centrist municipality, Macedo de Cavaleiros.

The doctor José Mario Mesquita made a point of stopping by the restaurant where the Chega caravan was dining to congratulate Andre Ventura “for his campaign, for his tenacity in defending this country.”

“I’m proud to say I have someone who is finally kicking the table, punching it,” he said.

The doctor also said that he was a member of the SDS-PP “after April 25,” but was interested in switching to Chegu, and Ventura guaranteed that “the door is always open.”

Speaking to reporters after this meeting, José Mario Mesquita said that he had lost confidence in the leader of the SDS-PP, and believes that Nuno Melo does not defend “what was true Christian democracy”, but rather “melts, goes out and fades away.” .

In Andre Ventura he sees “someone who does something different, who throws his fist on the table and manages to expose the reality of this country” and who is able to “say in front of a television camera” what “we often say in each other’s ears” .

“I think it wakes up some sleeping spirits,” he said.

More than 10.8 million Portuguese are called to vote on March 10 to elect 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic.

18 political forces, 15 parties and three coalitions are participating in the elections.