The Minister of the Presidency said today in Parliament that there is “a world of difference” between political and operational responsibility in the context of police activity in Lisbon and Porto during demonstrations for housing.
© Lusa
03/11/2026
by
Lusa
O minister of the Presidency said today in Parliament that there is “a world of difference” between political responsibility and operational responsibility in the context of police activity in Lisbon and Porto during demonstrations for housing.
“ We are politically responsible to the country for what happens and is carried out by the entities that depend on us”, said António Leitão Amaro during the hearing held in the Assembly of the Republic, in the context of the assessment in the specialty of the State Budget Proposal for 2027 (OE2027).
“ It is totally coherent, and I have always said so, to say that we have political responsibility,” the Minister of the Presidency added, in response to a question by the Member of the Left-Block, Fabian Figueiredo, about the statements by the Minister of the Interior, who said to take political responsibility for police interventions.
Political responsibility “is very different from operational responsibility,” said Leitão Amaro, pointing out that “there is a world of difference” between the two responsibilities.
On Friday, also regarding the discussion of the State Budget for next year, Luís Neves assumed political responsibility for police interventions in the campsites of Lisbon and Porto, clarifying that the PSP has “total technical, tactical and operational autonomy” to make decisions.
“ The decision on how, how and how belongs to the National Directorate of the Public Security Police, with whom I have been in constant contact. That's what happened. The political responsibility of the government is absolutely mine on this issue and it was I, with my team, who accompanied the work of the police ", said Luís Neves in parliament.
Since October 10, demonstrations for the right to housing have taken place in the country, demanding the reversal of the new rental law, the end of demolitions and evictions without an alternative housing, a brake on the purchase of housing by real estate funds, the increase in public housing, the recovery of vacant buildings for housing purposes and ceilings “truely accessible” to income.
In the early hours of Sunday, the PSP again dispersed the camped by the right to housing in Rossio, in Lisbon, and in Praça D. João I, in Porto, removing about 100 tents.
The intervention culminated in police charges and throwing objects, causing more than two dozen wounded between demonstrators and police.