Parliament Schedules Inquiry Into Internal Administration Minister Luís Neves

Wednesday, 7 October 2026AI summary

📍 Lisbon 🏛️ Government ⚖️ Legal #government-policy #parliamentary-inquiry #chega

Parliament Schedules Inquiry Into Internal Administration Minister Luís Neves — Photo: Portugal Resident

A parliamentary committee of inquiry (comissão parlamentar de inquérito) into Minister of Internal Administration Luís Neves is scheduled to be formally established on October 14. The investigation examines the minister's former tenure as national director of the Judicial Police (Polícia Judiciária). Chega leader André Ventura requested that inquiry hearings proceed during the 2027 budget debates, accusing parliamentary speaker José Pedro Aguiar-Branco of attempting to protect the minister from scrutiny.

Context & Explainers

André Ventura, born January 15, 1983, is a lawyer, academic, and Portugal's most prominent far-right leader. He founded Chega ("Enough") in 2019 after his PSD mayoral campaign attacked the Romani community. Chega surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest party and making Ventura Leader of the Opposition.

His platform emphasizes immigration restrictions, law-and-order policies, constitutional reform, and contains inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric that has triggered multiple discrimination convictions and investigations. Politically classified as far-right by international media, Ventura cultivates alliances with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen and Santiago Abascal.

José Pedro Aguiar‑Branco is the President of the Assembly of the Republic, who in this story requested that the Committee on Constitutional Affairs examine the constitutional conformity of government measures in a proposed bill. He is using his parliamentary role to trigger a formal review of changes affecting confession rules and the rights of the defence.