Chega president André Ventura announced this Wednesday that he has asked the elected Chega mayors to begin conducting a survey regarding the payment of support to "minorities."

"Today I issued a directive to immediately begin surveying all subsidies and social support paid to non-working minorities so that this can end in Portugal. This is a revolution that will happen in local government," he explained in statements to journalists in the Assembly of the Republic, after emphasising that the party is now "decisive in most of the country's municipal councils."

Ventura also said, after the party's first meeting with elected mayors, that the State Budget would also need to undergo similar changes. "People can't vote without it having any consequences. That's why I made a point today of issuing a directive to all mayors that the cuts must begin now. And the Budget must reflect this as well," he emphasised.

Asked how he planned to manage these cuts, Ventura said it would be "very simple," giving the example: "People who live in municipal housing and who have been convicted of drug trafficking. Now is the time when this has to end."

Ventura also reinforced how decisive the party was now, saying that "it is decisive in seven of the country's largest municipalities. No decision goes through without Chega's support in all seven municipalities."

"I would like to see this in the State Budget as well. We looked at Social Security, and it's exactly the same," he stated, adding that the party will not "compromise or yield support."