PS leadership candidate Pedro Nuno Santos on Tuesday defended the abolition of the position of the Republic’s representative in the autonomous regions and stressed that Madeira and the Azores “add Portugal” through the exclusive economic zone.
“We don’t want to replace [o representante da República] under a different name, as a representative of the Republic, but rather eliminated, because it is obvious that Madeira and the Azores are not colonies, they are regions of Portugal,” he said.
Pedro Nuno Santos spoke in Funchal (Madeira) as part of a meeting with PS activists and supporters, which was attended by the recently elected president of the party’s regional structure, Paulo Cafofo.
The candidate for the leadership of the PS called the position of the representative of the republic an “outdated figure,” emphasizing that autonomy is one of the most important tools for the development of the two island regions and therefore “needs to be taken care of.”
“Madeira, like the Azores, joins Portugal and we have an exclusive economic zone that is one of the largest in the world thanks to our two autonomous regions,” he said.
Pedro Nuno Santos also stated that the future Law of the Sea cannot ignore the experience and knowledge of the two archipelagos in terms of their governance, and stated that the regions must be involved in defining maritime strategy.
For the direct socialist elections scheduled for December 15 and 16, three candidates have so far presented themselves: former infrastructure minister Pedro Nuno Santos, current interior minister José Luis Carneiro and Daniel Adrian, leader of the minority line. opposition to current Secretary General António Costa.