Presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes stated this Monday, October 27, that the idea that there was no corruption during the dictatorship is science fiction, claiming that whoever says this is whitewashing the old regime.
“The idea that there was no corruption during the dictatorship is science fiction. [Só] I didn’t come outside because there was censorship”said Marques Mendes at the end of a visit to the Monte Pedral Association, in Porto
The former PSD leader argued that anyone who says that there was no corruption in the past is whitewashing the old regime, in a reference to his opponent in the race for Belém, André Ventura, also leader of Chega.
This afternoon, during the debate on the State Budget for 2026 in general, in the Assembly of the Republic, André Ventura once again defended an idea that he launched on Friday in an interview with SIC, that To end corruption in Portugal, “three Salazars” were needed.
Asked about André Ventura’s statements, Marques Mendes said he did not want to “talk more about this person”.
“I have the following for myself, and I think this defines everything, this man, due to his style, his language and the ideas he has, will never be President of the Republic. Believe me”he reiterated.
Marques Mendes, who today dedicates the day to social institutions in Porto, insisted that “all of André Ventura’s statements” demonstrate that he cannot, nor will he, be President of the Republic.
When asked about the support expressed by the president of the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD), Nuno Morais Sarmento, for his candidacy, Marques Mendes said he received it with surprise, on the one hand, and with satisfaction, on the other.
“Surprised because I wasn’t expecting it in the slightest, despite having enormous respect and consideration for Dr. Nuno Morais Sarmento, and satisfied because, obviously, the reasons for the support give me a lot of confidence and a lot of hope and I was, obviously, happy”, he assumed.
“It’s another of the many supports, more to the right or more to the center-left that I have, and that’s how a candidacy is made”, he concluded.
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