Liberal Initiative leader defends early elections in Madeira

The leader of the Liberal Initiative, Rui Rocha, defended this Friday the call for early elections in Madeira, confirming the resignation of the regional government president Miguel Albuquerque, who was named as a defendant this week.

“In the opinion of the Liberal Initiative, the appropriate solution to overcome this situation in Madeira would be to call new elections as soon as it is constitutionally possible,” Rui Rocha told reporters on the island of Sao Jorge. on the sidelines of the election campaign for regional legislative elections, which will take place on February 4 in the Azores.

The President of the Regional Government of Madeira (PSD/CDS-PP) has been named as a defendant in an investigation into allegations of corruption, abuse of power, malfeasance, attacks on the rule of law and other crimes.

The IL leader said he agrees with the resignation of Miguel Albuquerque as president of the regional government of Madeira, which was reported by some media but has not yet been confirmed.

“I think it should have happened already, so it’s the right decision, but it’s a delayed decision. The country did not need to go through this situation of enormous turbulence again. It is important that political leaders take on the responsibility of responsibilities at the right time,” he said.

According to Rui Rocha, early elections should be called in Madeira, where the last vote took place on September 24, 2023.

“At the moment, we don’t know the scope of the investigation, we don’t know who is involved,” he explained, saying there could be a risk of “bringing to power people who may also be involved in this investigation.”

“The best thing would be to give back to the people of Madeira and Porto Santos the ability to choose their representation, since these are serious situations whose consequences we still do not fully know,” he added.

The Liberal leader recalled that the President of the Republic decided to call early elections when the Prime Minister (PS) resigned, given that “it was a personal election, very centralized in the person of António Costa”, but retorted that “the elections in Madeira were also focuses on the personality of Miguel Albuquerque.”

“It is very important, even desirable and important, to restore the democratic confidence of voters in Madeira and Porto Santo that we go to the polls,” he insisted.

Rui Rocha also criticized PSD leader Luis Montenegro’s position on the case, saying that “the opportunity to set a standard of ethical requirements that must be respected when performing functions in Portugal” was lost.

“The Liberal Initiative has done just that, it applies the same criteria to all situations. There are no double standards regarding the Liberal Initiative, and we would like the same to happen in relation to other parties and other party leaders,” he emphasized He.

“Those who at that time did not understand the reasons that prompted the Liberal Initiative to stand alone, with its lists and its candidates, in the legislative elections on March 10, now understand that this was the only opportunity that existed, because we very different in our ambitions for the country, and we are very different in our ambitions regarding the standards of ethics and requirements that we apply in the performance of responsible functions,” he emphasized.

The President of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, meets in Funchal with the leader of the SDS-PP/Madeira and coalition partner in the executive branch, Ruy Barreto, to discuss the political situation in the archipelago.

A meeting of the PSD/Madeira political commission is scheduled for later in the day.

Also involved in the trial are two businessmen and the mayor of Funchal, Pedro Calado (FNC), three of whom were detained in a police operation launched on Wednesday mainly in Madeira, but also in the Azores and several cities on the continent.

The current political crisis in Madeira, caused by judicial investigations affecting the regional executive headed by Miguel Albuquerque, comes at a time when a decision to dissolve the region’s Legislative Assembly cannot be officially made for the next two months, until March 24.

Article 172 of the Constitution specifies that no assembly may be dissolved “within six months after its election.”

Faced with a national political crisis that began with the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa on 7 November, the President of the Republic announced on 9 November that he would dissolve parliament and call early legislative elections for 10 March.

Legislative elections were called four months in advance (with António Costa remaining head of government during this period and until a new chief executive took office) and were not officially convened until more than two months later, on 15 January. when the Assembly of the Republic was dissolved.

CYB (VAM/DC) // JPS

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