The PCP and BE are calling for swift responses from Rosário Farmhouse, president of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly (AML), regarding her authorization of a neo-Nazi group’s congress held on November 2 at Fórum Lisboa, the AML headquarters.
In an interview with the media, Leonor Rosas, a municipal deputy for the Left Bloc (BE) in Lisbon, urged the AML to take a clear stance against the Reconquista congress.
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She called for the assembly to issue a note of repudiation and to declare that neo-Nazi, supremacist, misogynistic, and anti-immigration organizations have no place at the Lisbon Forum.
Leonor Rosas Demands Clarity from Rosário Farmhouse
Rosas also emphasized the need for Rosário Farmhouse to provide a full explanation about the process that led to the event’s authorization. Additionally, she called on Farmhouse to firmly distance herself from the group.
Leonor Rosas also wants the AML to use this case to reinforce the verification of requests received for the transfer of the Lisbon Forum. He said:
They should ask for more information from the organizations that contact them and about the content of the events that will take place there.
In a formal request addressed to Rosário Farmhouse, the Bloco’s municipal group expressed strong concerns about the situation.
Bloco Makes Formal Request for Accountability
The party stated it could not avoid questioning vehemently the decision to provide the space for such purposes, emphasizing that hosting a congress promoting hate speech has significant political and social consequences for many people in their daily lives.
The BE emphasized that the Lisbon Forum serves as the headquarters of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly and described it as the House of Citizenship for the city of Lisbon. They said:
And in this sense we find it important to clarify the responsibility for the decision to welcome this initiative, and what type of criteria were taken into account, considering the openly nationalist and supremacist nature of the organization called Reconquista.
The BE also demands that the presidency of the AML clarify whether it was aware, before authorizing the event, of the principles upheld by the organization Reconquista, which they argue are in clear conflict with the fundamental pillars of the rule of law and human rights, and that promote hate speech.
Additionally, they ask what criteria the AML used to approve the initiative of this organization. The Lisbon communists told the media that:
The act carried out in the Lisbon Municipal Assembly building, authorized by the president of this body, reinforces the need for confirmation from official sources that require the holding of events.
They also emphasize that the person responsible must be held accountable if someone intentionally and maliciously deceives a public entity.
Confusion Over The Event Authorization
The PCP says it repudiates the holding of events by neo-Nazi groups. The party said:
Whether in the city of Lisbon or anywhere in the country, as this represents an affront to the constitutional principles of rejecting racism and xenophobia and structures that support fascist ideology.
Chega Party Involvement Denied by Neo-Nazi Group
Rosário Farmhouse stated that municipal services reviewed a proposal to rent the space, which an individual—a woman whose name did not raise any concerns—submitted.
In her email, the woman requested the Lisbon Forum for November 2, a Saturday, and mentioned that the entity renting the venue was the youth collective (Chega party).
She added that the event was described as a conference on the relationship between modernity and collectivism and its effects on Portuguese society. According to the president of AML, the organizers also mentioned that the initiative would have the following content:
A set of speeches on current affairs, the press and European society and culture. Speeches given by prominent figures from the national and international scene.
In other words, the information provided was vague and appeared to be innocuous.
Event Approval Based on Misleading Information
Based on the content of the presentation, the AML decided to authorize the space rental. On October 24, Rosário Farmhouse issued a dispatch that approved the booking for what they presented as a cultural event, which turned out to be misleading
When asked by a media outlet how the AML plans to implement more effective control to prevent similar situations in the future, Rosário Farmhouse did not directly address the question.
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She instead emphasized that, according to the law, the responsibility for what is said and done at events at the Lisbon Forum lies with their promoters. Shortly before the media channel published the news in the printed edition, the AML released its own statement on the matter.
The statement contained similar content and revealed a list of dozens of political parties and cultural organizations that had organized events at the Lisbon Forum.
An official source from Chega stated that the party’s Youth did not reserve the Lisbon Forum, adding that if anyone made the reservation, they did so abusively.
André Ventura, the party leader, later confirmed this information and described the request made on behalf of Chega Youth as criminal.
In the last few hours, the neo-Nazi movement claimed on social media that it had properly identified itself in the request made to the AML. The president of Reconquista, Afonso Gonçalves, stated to the news agency that they never claimed to be from Chega.
He said:
They understood that it had been a mistake to approve the event and, now, to legitimize themselves in the eyes of the public, they are using the justification that they understood that we were directly associated, or that we were part of Chega.
