André Ventura speaking in the Portuguese Parliament

Politics 18 July 2026

Ventura wants Luís Neves out of government — and has now put it in writing

Chega leader André Ventura sent Portugal's PM a letter arguing interior minister Luís Neves compromises trust in institutions, as police open a new probe touching the minister's contractor.

André Ventura has moved from speeches to headed paper. The Chega leader sent Prime Minister Luís Montenegro a letter arguing that keeping Luís Neves at the interior ministry “compromises trust in institutions”, and accusing the government of failing to act on the gravity of the suspicions piling up around the minister. In parallel, he publicly urged Neves to walk “on his own two feet” — and, failing that, for the prime minister to show “political authority”.

What does Chega’s letter ask Montenegro to do?

Make a decision: either the minister resigns, or Montenegro removes him. The pressure did not start this week — Neves has been under fire since it emerged that the contractor who billed 1.9 million euros for Judiciary Police works also did private jobs on the minister’s rural property, with known invoices of 27,000 euros and proof of payment still nowhere to be seen. Neves denies any wrongdoing and says he picked the builder because the firm holds security clearance.

What are police investigating now?

The new chapter landed on Friday: the Judiciary Police announced an investigation into a trailer seized in a drug-trafficking case that turned up hitched to a truck belonging to Construbarcelos — the very company owned by the minister’s contractor friend who worked on his property. It is that crossover between a police case and a minister’s inner circle that has raised the temperature.

Montenegro, who got through the State of the Nation debate without letting go of his minister, now has the letter on his desk and a simple sum to do: how much loyalty to Neves is worth against the cost of keeping him. The government’s line-up is on the official portal; how long it stays that way is the live question.

By Tomás Vasconcelos

Image: Duke of Winterfell / Wikimedia Commons (GFDL)

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