Portugal’s parliament is expected to reject a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Luis Montenegro’s centre right minority government on Tuesday, after the far right Chega party accused the administration of failing to address allegations surrounding Interior Minister Luis Neves.
The motion is widely expected to fail as opposition parties, including the Socialists, have indicated they will either vote against it or abstain to avoid triggering further political instability.
The vote is the first no confidence motion faced by Montenegro’s current government since it took office 15 months ago, underscoring the fragile position of an administration that lacks a parliamentary majority.
Chega filed the motion after Montenegro refused to dismiss Neves, who is facing scrutiny over alleged misconduct during his eight years as head of Portugal’s Judicial Police. Montenegro has rejected Chega’s accusations as a political manoeuvre and defended Neves as an effective minister.
Prosecutors are investigating how a trailer containing drug precursor chemicals seized during a police operation ended up at a storage facility owned by a contractor who later carried out work at Neves’ property.
Authorities are also examining building permits linked to the property and Neves’ rent free use of a vehicle that had been seized from a convicted drug trafficker.
Neves has denied wrongdoing and refused to resign. He has said an arrangement involving the seized vehicle saved the state money on disposal costs.
Chega leader Andre Ventura said Neves was unfit to remain in government, arguing that the decision to keep him in office demonstrated a decline in ethical standards in Portugal.
Chega holds 60 seats in the 230 member parliament, making it the second largest parliamentary group. Montenegro’s centre right coalition has 91 seats, while the remaining parties control enough seats to prevent the no confidence motion from succeeding if they oppose it or abstain.
Socialist leader Jose Luis Carneiro said his party would not support the motion, arguing that it would be irresponsible to push Portugal into political turmoil.
He acknowledged that the controversy surrounding Neves was weakening Montenegro’s political authority but accused Chega of using the motion primarily to attract media attention.
Portugal has only once successfully passed a parliamentary no confidence motion that brought down a government, in 1987.
Montenegro has already survived two no confidence challenges. His first government collapsed in March 2025 after he called a confidence vote and subsequently lost it, leading to another election.
Leave a comment