The leader of the far-right formation Chega, André Ventura, has supported the police intervention carried out during the early hours of the morning in the eviction of the housing camps in Porto and Lisbon, and has labeled the participants as "vandals."
Ventura has emphasized that it was essential to "restore public order" through a police operation that, he indicated, "could not fail to occur" in the face of the "vandals and provocateurs" present in the camps, which he described as composed of "national and international troublemakers" who were "infiltrated by the extreme left."
In this vein, he has argued that the campers deliberately sought confrontation with the security forces and has attacked the political formations that have criticized the intervention, particularly pointing to the Socialist Party of Portugal.
He has also criticized the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, for not speaking out about the incidents and for his supposed deficit of "leadership" in this situation. "Where do we have the leader of our country? He has not been heard from for a week. He says nothing. He does not lead. He does not show his face," he stated.
The role of Chega has been decisive for the Government to manage to push through the package of measures on rental, one of the main reasons that have driven the housing protests.