Manifestation of Enough? “Lisbon City Council has explanations to give”

TIago Barbosa Ribeiro defended, on Saturday, that the Lisbon City Council “has explanations to give” about the Chega demonstration in front of the headquarters of the Socialist Party (PS).

“The so-called ‘encirclement’ of a democratic party is intolerable in any case and the CM of Lisbon, which authorized it, has explanations to give“, wrote, on Twitter, the councilor of the PS in the Chamber of Porto.

Despite considering that the protest by the party led by André Ventura was “a ridiculous fiasco”, the deputy understands that it should not be underestimated.

“We all understand what the extreme right intended with this number of hooligans and it is not because it was a ridiculous fiasco that we should belittle it“, the publication reads.

The so-called “encirclement” of a democratic party is intolerable in any case and the CM of Lisbon, which authorized it, has explanations to give.

We all understand what the extreme right intended with this number of hooligans and it is not because it was a ridiculous fiasco that we should belittle it.

— Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro (@tbribeiro) May 13, 2023

It is recalled that Chega called the demonstration as a siege at the national headquarters of the PS, in Largo do Rato, in Lisbon, for 3:30 pm on Saturday. The protest brought together a few hundred people, but the atmosphere only brightened with the arrival of André Ventura, around 4 pm, with the initiative ending shortly after 5 pm.

The president of Chega justified the demonstration by saying that the PS and the current Government “surround democracy” and the institutions, accusing them of delaying justice.

Despite the ‘speaker”s insistence that a human cordon be made around the headquarters of the party, the effect turned out to be just a semicircle near the police bays, which closed the street in front of Largo do Rato and created a perimeter of security between the demonstrators and the PS headquarters, only allowing people to place themselves next to the wall in front and to the side.

At the protest, two inflatable dolls were displayed, one with a mask by António Costa and the other by José Sócrates, which were later placed inside a cage.

Some socialist leaders commented on what happened and considered the protest anti-democratic.

Read too: Ventura justifies demonstration accusing PS of “surrounding democracy”