Luís Neves, Minister of Internal Administration, will go to Parliament this Tuesday to face deputies in one of the most politically delicate hearings since he took office. The minister will be heard at the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Liberties and Guarantees at a time when his remaining in Government is at the center of a political dispute that will have, hours later, a new chapter with the discussion and vote on the motion of censure presented by Chega against Luís Montenegro's government.
The hearing comes after weeks of growing pressure on the former national director of the Judicial Police, marked by several investigations and inquiries related to decisions made during his years at the head of the criminal police body. Among the questions that will be raised are the transfer of an impounded trailer to the facilities of a company that had contracts with the PJ, the works carried out on Luís Neves's property in Odemira, the doubts about the asset and income declarations he was obligated to submit, and the car the minister drives, valued at around 40 thousand euros, belonging to a drug trafficker identified as "Xuxas".
The parliamentary scrutiny should not be limited to finding out what happened in each of the episodes. With cases in different instances, deputies will also have to seek to establish political responsibilities: what decisions were made by Luís Neves as the highest-ranking official of the PJ, what procedures were followed, and whether there were failures of control or transparency. The pressure on the minister increased after the attorney general revealed that there are several cases related to Luís Neves, including three criminal inquiries, one Court of Auditors case, and an investigation of an administrative nature. In parallel, the Ministry of Justice ordered an audit of the PJ for the period of his mandates.
More than a hearing about his past at the PJ, deputies will have the opportunity to question the current person in charge of Internal Administration on whether he believes that the succession of cases and suspicions affects his political authority and his ability to remain in Government. With the motion of censure less than five hours away, the hearing may also serve to measure the minister's ability to respond to the opposition's criticism.
