Chega demands immediate inquiry into Minister Luís Neves as parliament speaker backs two-panel limit

Dispute over inquiry limits

Portuguese political party Chega has formally rejected a proposal by Assembly President José Pedro Aguiar-Branco to restrict the number of simultaneously operating parliamentary inquiry commissions to two. Party president André Ventura, who is designated to chair the inquiry into Internal Administration Minister Luís Neves, addressed a formal protest letter to the speaker alongside Chega parliamentary leader Pedro Pinto. The party claimed that Aguiar-Branco is seeking to protect Neves from scrutiny regarding his previous tenure as national director of the Judicial Police (PJ). Chega argued that capping concurrent investigative committees lacks any legal or statutory basis within the Portuguese Constitution or the procedural rules of the Assembly of the Republic.

Chega regrets this attitude and will fight for a swift and unconstrained investigation into Doctor Luís Neves, despite all obstacles. That is the higher interest of the Portuguese people, which should also guide your actions.

Speaker invokes parliamentary tradition

Aguiar-Branco defended the two-commission limit while addressing reporters after opening parliament's main doors to the public to mark the 116th anniversary of the establishment of the Portuguese Republic. The speaker acknowledged that parliamentary regulations strictly permit up to four inquiry commissions to function at the same time. However, he maintained that unwritten parliamentary custom has consistently capped simultaneous inquiries at two to ensure smaller parliamentary groups with fewer deputies can actively participate in proceedings. Aguiar-Branco stated that he holds no personal preference regarding which two commissions should proceed and emphasized that his formal responsibility is strictly to ensure that all panels comply with the law and the Constitution.

The conference of leaders is sovereign, it has the obligation to do so, because that has been the practice. But, then, the deputies are the ones who decide.

Decision referred to leaders' conference

The procedural disagreement will be addressed during the parliamentary leaders' conference scheduled for Wednesday, 7 October 2026, where parliamentary leaders will decide the operational calendar. The Portuguese parliament currently has two inquiries nearing completion, focusing respectively on the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM) and forest fires. Lawmakers also approved a third inquiry proposed by the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) regarding national school examinations at the start of the legislative session. Chega subsequently invoked its mandatory minority right to establish the fourth commission regarding Neves, creating a backlog of four approved inquiries awaiting committee work. Aguiar-Branco stated that the sovereign leaders' conference must now manage the schedule.

Accusations of institutional bias

In their letter, Ventura and Pinto accused Aguiar-Branco of being held hostage by the interests of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Socialist Party (PS). They compared his actions to those of former parliamentary speaker Augusto Santos Silva, asserting that the presidency had introduced sequential barriers against the probe. According to Chega, parliamentary leadership initially challenged the inquiry's subject matter, questioned the scope of the investigation, raised concerns over political interference, and finally invoked committee congestion to stall proceedings. The party stated that it will resist any procedural obstacles and demanded the immediate launch of the investigation into the minister.