Lisbon, Nov. 5, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is available to receive the leader of right wing party Chega, at his request, on Wednesday morning or evening, according to a letter sent to André Ventura on Tuesday.
According to a source in the Presidency office, in a letter signed by the Chief of Staff, Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, and addressed to André Ventura, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be able to receive a delegation from Chega on Wednesday at 11am or 6pm and he is asked to choose one of these two possibilities and to indicate the composition of the delegation.
On Saturday, following visits by the president to the neighbourhoods of Zambujal and Cova da Moura, where Cabo Verde citizen Odair Moniz lived and was shot dead by the police, the leader of Chega considered Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's actions to be "regrettable" and announced his intention to deliver a "formal protest" to the Belém Palace on Wednesday at 3.30pm, along with all the other 49 members of parliament from his party.
The presidency office announced on Friday evening that the head of state had begun the promised "informal visits to the Greater Lisbon area, having been to Amadora, together with the local mayor, to the Zambujal neighbourhood, where he visited the PSP police station and talked to several residents of that neighbourhood, including Odair Moniz's relatives", and that he "also had dinner in Amadora, where he visited the fire station".
Later in the day, another press release said that the president, "accompanied by the mayor of Amadora, visited the Cova da Moura neighbourhood that evening after dinner in Damaia, where he spoke to several residents".
On Saturday, the presidency office reported that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, also the night before, spoke "with the mother of Tiago, the Carris Metropolitana bus driver who was the victim of the attack on the bus he was driving and which was set on fire", with whom he confirmed "the positive evolution of his state of health, which he has been following, respecting the restrictions of hospitalisation, from the very first moment".
These visits and contacts were made unannounced and without the presence of the media.
On Saturday evening, in a statement, the leader of Chega announced that he intended to go to Belém Palace, accompanied by the other MPs from his party, "next Wednesday at 3.30pm", to deliver to the head of state "a formal protest for his regrettable behaviour in the face of the events that have taken place in recent weeks".
André Ventura accused Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of "deplorable partiality" in the face of the disturbances in Greater Lisbon following the death of Odair Moniz, who was shot by the PSP in Cova da Moura, and expressed his expectation of "being received by the president of the country to deliver this formal protest, which will also be submitted to parliament".
The statement said that the president went to the Zambujal neighbourhood without making "any visit to the police officers involved or to the victims of the violence perpetrated by these groups", despite his visit to the PSP police station and his contact with the mother of the driver who was seriously injured.
On Monday, the Chega leader claimed in a new statement that "the presidency office informed him, by letter, that the audience was rejected" and reiterated his intention to go "next Wednesday, at 3.30pm, to the Palace of Belém to deliver a formal protest to the president", with all the other MPs from his party.
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