Chega to lead 25-member parliamentary inquiry into former police chief Luís Neves

Leadership and parliamentary approval

The Assembly of the Republic approved the structure of a parliamentary commission of inquiry to evaluate the mandates of Luís Neves as national director of the Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária). Chega forced the creation of the commission through its mandatory inquiry powers. Under the draft deliberation submitted by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, Chega will hold the presidency of the inquiry. The Socialist Party (PS) will occupy the first vice-presidency, and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) will hold the second vice-presidency. The resolution passed with favorable votes from almost all parliamentary groups and single deputies, with People-Animals-Nature (PAN) casting the sole abstention. Chega has not yet named the specific deputy chosen to preside over the panel, noting that the selection will be announced once the internal decision is finalized.

Seat distribution among party groups

The inquiry commission consists of 25 effective deputies allocated strictly in proportion to parliamentary seat share. The PSD received the largest representation with eight seats, followed by Chega and the PS with five deputies each. Smaller parliamentary groups secured proportional representation, with Iniciativa Liberal (IL) and Livre assigned two seats each, while the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), CDS-PP, and Juntos pelo Povo (JPP) each received one seat. All participating parties except JPP, which has only a single elected deputy in parliament, are permitted to appoint substitute members to the panel.

Scope and excluded points of inquiry

The mandate of the commission centers on reviewing Neves' actions as head of the criminal investigation police across all his terms between 2018 and 2026. The panel is also tasked with investigating the potential political and administrative responsibilities of the government ministers who nominated and supervised him over those eight years. Parliamentary authorities admitted Chega's mandatory inquiry request only in part, striking two specific topics from the final inquiry framework. The excluded items involved allegations concerning the conditioning of journalistic work by the son of the Minister of Internal Administration, as well as alleged relationships with corporate entities that Chega did not identify by name in its written request.

Exceptional inclusion of single deputy

Assembly President José Pedro Aguiar-Branco authorized the participation of JPP sole deputy Filipe Sousa on an exceptional basis. Parliamentary rules typically limit sole deputies to participating only in inquiry committees that they personally initiate, a rule applied to Bloco de Esquerda deputy Andreia Galvão on the inquiry into national secondary school examinations. Sousa had initially proposed a separate inquiry into Neves' conduct, but that initiative stalled after PS, PSD, and CDS-PP signaled they would vote together to defeat it. After Chega's request moved forward, Sousa petitioned Aguiar-Branco to join the 25-member committee, a request approved because no parliamentary faction raised an objection. While Sousa and former Iniciativa Liberal leader Rui Rocha are confirmed participants, Chega leader André Ventura has postponed announcing whether he will occupy one of his party's five seats. Single deputies from Bloco de Esquerda and PAN will not sit on the committee. According to the legal regime for parliamentary inquiries, the designated members will formally take office before Aguiar-Branco within 15 days of the resolution's official publication in the Diário da Assembleia da República before opening committee hearings.