The censure motion against the Government presented by Chega was rejected in the Assembly of the Republic with 104 votes against from PSD, CDS-PP, Iniciativa Liberal, Livre and PAN, 62 abstentions from PS, PCP, BE and JPP, and only 60 votes in favor from the proposing bench. The initiative had as its central target the Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves, and generated moments of strong tension in Parliament. After the rejection was announced, the 60 Chega deputies stood up, pounded their hands on the benches and chanted demanding the Executive's resignation, while the PSD and CDS-PP benches applauded standing up and parties on the left left the chamber.
The president of Chega, André Ventura, justified the initiative stating that the party sought to show the Prime Minister the path of decency and accused the Government of protecting a minister who refuses public scrutiny. Ventura warned the remaining opposition parties that whoever voted against the motion would become an accomplice and crutch of the Government. The Socialist Party responded through deputy José Luís Carneiro, guaranteeing that PS is not afraid of André Ventura and that it does not align with political calculation maneuvers. The Socialist parliamentary leader, Eurico Brilhante Dias, even ironized that the Prime Minister should give Ventura the employee of the month award.
The president of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, refused to suspend proceedings after the protests and justified the decision stating that he did not interrupt the session because Chega wanted to show that democracy does not work. Aguiar-Branco added that the Chega bench's behavior does not dignify Parliament and that citizens would make their judgment at the next electoral act, words that gathered applause from both PSD and PS.
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, reiterated his full political confidence in Luís Neves, arguing that the former National Director of the Judicial Police has carried out extraordinary work marked by aptitude, competence and capacity in dossiers such as fire prevention, airport border control and crime fighting. Montenegro recalled that the Portuguese made their choice a year ago and rejected the idea of dismissing members of the Executive under political pressure.
