Minister Luís Neves faces next Tuesday, September 8th, the moment of greatest political test since he took the Internal Administration portfolio, when the Assembly of the Republic will debate and vote on the motion of censure against the Government presented by Chega. André Ventura's party sustains the motion on the alleged loss of conditions of the minister to continue at the head of the ministry, invoking suspicions around past decisions and the way he has managed the structure of police forces. Luís Neves, former national director of the Judicial Police called by Luís Montenegro to oversee the security forces, has become the main target of opposition combat in recent weeks.
Faced with growing pressure, the minister directly assumed his trajectory, acknowledging having made one or two errors, but ruling out any scenario of voluntary resignation. Luís Neves classified as premeditated the defamation campaign against him, stating that he will choose the only strategy he knows: to launch suspicions, attack honor, and try to intimidate based on lies. The minister underscored that in the rule of law, guilt is established with facts and evidence gathered under judicial control, and not through repeated insinuations for electoral purposes.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro closed ranks around his minister, publicly expressing his confidence in the profile of the former director of the Judicial Police. For Montenegro, Chega's motion of censure represents a mere diversionary expedient that lacks political substance, appealing to the maturity of partisan agents and warning that citizens demand deliberation instead of maneuvers that only serve to degrade republican institutions.
Constitutional rules require that a motion of censure only produces the resignation of the Government if it collects the absolute majority of votes from deputies. With the current parliamentary composition, the initiative is condemned to failure, since the Socialist Party does not intend to serve as a crutch for Chega's radicalization strategies, and the Liberal Initiative has also not expressed intention to second a forced interruption of the legislature, transforming Tuesday's session into a strictly political battle of arguments and institutional credibility.
