Luís Montenegro is set to participate in the campaign for local elections, balancing his schedule as Prime Minister with his role as leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), and attending various local initiatives supporting PSD and coalition candidates. With the government’s leader in the spotlight, controversies surrounding him have also come to light, notably on Saturday, when the Spinumviva case resurfaced in the campaign, as it did during the legislative elections.
While in Aveiro, Luís Montenegro was questioned by the media about the issue, denying any responsibility for delays in the preliminary investigation into the business dealings of the family company Spinumviva, reaffirming his composure.
“I am very calm, as I always have been. I want this investigation to be completed as soon as possible. It’s not because of me that it’s delayed, let’s make that very clear”, Montenegro told journalists on the sidelines of a pre-campaign event for the local elections in S. João da Madeira, Aveiro district.
At the end of a visit to the Municipal Market, the government leader was confronted with a news report about an alleged insinuation from his office regarding possible political motivations by authorities investigating the Spinumviva case, which he denied.
“My office told the news outlet that I received two requests for clarification, one during the legislative election campaign and another now on the eve of the local elections. That is a fact, not an insinuation, it’s a fact”, he stated.
The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, denied on Saturday any insinuation that would question the Public Prosecutor’s Office, after some responses about the Spinumviva case. He did not detail the requested dates in his statements.
Notícias ao Minuto | 12:49 – 27/09/2025
In its Saturday edition, the newspaper reported that the Prime Minister’s office, in an official response, associated the timing of documentation requests in the Spinumviva investigation to two electoral campaigns, suggesting political motivations in the chosen timings by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and the Judicial Police.
On September 19, the Prime Minister stated that the MP’s request for more documents on Spinumviva was nothing significant and that he would send them “as soon as possible”.
“I have already received this request, which is a normal request (…). I can say that it’s nothing significant, but I will take today’s afternoon to compile the requested documents and submit them as quickly as possible,” Luís Montenegro said to journalists on the sidelines of an event in Porto.
However, the Prime Minister declined to specify which documents were requested.
The MP requested more documentation from the Prime Minister to finalize the preliminary investigation into the business affairs of his family company Spinumviva, said the Attorney General.
‘Timing’? MP “requests the documents as needed”
If the Prime Minister implied political motivations in the MP’s chosen timings, the opposition downplayed the moment, emphasizing instead the need for swift justice.
“These are matters concerning justice, and we must let justice do its work. I have nothing more to say,” said the Socialist Party (PS) Secretary-General, José Luís Carneiro, to journalists, adding that justice “carries out its processes as it sees fit”, refusing to comment “on justice’s timing”.
The PS Secretary-General expressed confidence in “the institutions of the rule of law” and the country, believing that “the institutions have their work rhythms, have their choices, and there will certainly be justification for these actions to occur when justice deems it appropriate”.
For Inês de Sousa Real, “justice should not halt its work because we are in an electoral campaign”. “In fact, the Spinumviva case began precisely at the time of the legislative elections,” she said, denying any coincidence in the recent requests to Luís Montenegro from the authorities.
The single deputy for PAN recalled that at the previous legislative elections, “preventive inquiries were conducted, for example, concerning Pedro Nuno Santos [former PS Secretary-General]”.
“At the time, I do not recall hearing these criticisms. We cannot have one criterion for others and a different one for the current government. Justice should handle what pertains to justice, let time run its course, and the investigation proceed,” she said.
Leaders of the PS and PAN downplayed today in Vila Nova de Gaia, where they participated jointly in a local election rally, the timing of the justice’s action concerning the Spinumviva case involving Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
Lusa | 15:21 – 27/09/2025
Mariana Leitão, leader of the Liberal Initiative (IL), refrained from commenting on the PSD’s accusations regarding the timing of requests related to the Spinumviva case, advocating that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and responses to its requests should be prompt.
“Let’s wait; it’s important for the processes, regardless of who they involve, to be swift so that people can also resolve their lives, and that’s what matters right now,” she said during a pre-campaign event in Gondomar.
However, “if the documentation was requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, it should obviously be delivered as soon as possible, also as a way to ensure this promptness,” the liberal leader added.
During a luncheon rally in Avis, Portalegre district, Paulo Raimundo also commented on the Prime Minister’s office associating the timing of documentation requests in the Spinumviva case to two election campaigns.
The secretary-general of the PCP reminded that when the initial revelations about Spinumviva emerged, he argued that Luís Montenegro should have resigned, criticizing the Prime Minister for remaining in office and believing that the legislative election results would “cleanse the wrong choice he made”.
Paulo Raimundo stated that the Public Prosecutor’s Office “requests documents when deemed necessary” and emphasized that this is only a controversy now “because the Prime Minister made the decision he did at the time”. “Had he resigned, none of this would be happening today. This decision by the Prime Minister dragged the country into this situation. Let’s see how this ends,” he noted.
Will Spinumviva continue shaping the campaign? “Local elections are local elections”
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was also questioned about the case yesterday, stating that “local elections are local elections” and dismissing any notion that the Spinumviva case will impact elections.
Speaking to journalists on Saturday at the Book Fair at the Palace of Belém, Marcelo expressed the view that there would be no ‘contamination’ of the local elections by current affairs, and thus the new information about the Spinumviva case would not influence voting.
“Each case is unique, and the personality of candidates is heavily weighed in local elections,” argued the President of the Republic, claiming that the issues discussed in municipalities are centered on local problems.
Further advocating his point, the President mentioned that this “is one of the campaigns with the least presence of national leaders” in campaign actions, attributing this to the legislative elections in May and the presidential elections in January.
Read Also: Marcelo denies Spinumviva case ‘contaminates’ local elections
