Albuquerque says it makes no sense for some parties to maintain campaign positions

The President of the Madeira Government said this Monday that “it makes no sense” that some parties want to continue to support the “radical” dialectic of the electoral campaign, given that they must assume their responsibilities depending on the will of the people.

“If some parties want to continue to maintain the heightened, radicalized dialectic of the election campaign, it makes no sense,” said Miguel Albuquerque after journalists asked him about the absence of the PS and JPP at a meeting between the executive and the parties. hold negotiations on the approval of the Regional Government Program scheduled for this afternoon.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ceremonial meeting of the Municipality of Porto Santo, the President of the Government of Madeira and leader of the PSD/Madeira noted that “democracy goes through several stages in its process”, and noted that now, after the elections During the election campaign, “parties must not support this heightened position” common in that period, and “each takes on its responsibilities within the framework of a parliamentary project that proceeds from the will of the people.”

“We continue, as we have always said, to show all humility and all readiness to reach agreements in order to approve the Government program and budget,” he assured.

The government program began being debated last week in Madeira’s parliament but was eventually withdrawn by the executive as the PS, JPP and Chega were set to vote against it and make approval impossible.

When asked whether a round involving the parties represented in the semicircle should have started before the presentation of the document, Miguel Albuquerque replied that this had been done and negotiations were now continuing.

Regarding whether Chega/Madeira leader Miguel Castro had already shown some openness to making the government program viable, the regional executive president responded that the negotiation process was ongoing and “required some caution.”

When asked about statements made by his opponent in recent internal party meetings, Manuel Antonio Correia, Miguel Albuquerque simply replied: “He came to say that he was there.”

In a statement on Sunday, Social Democrat Manuel Antonio Correia, who contested the PSD/Madeira leadership with Miguel Albuquerque in March, expressed concern about the state of the party and the region, believing that the core of the problem lies with the current leadership.

In early regional elections on May 26, the SDP elected 19 deputies, giving it five terms to achieve an absolute majority (which requires 24), the PS received 11, the AKP nine, Chega four and SDS-PP two. , and IL and PAN elected one deputy each.

After the elections, the PSD signed a parliamentary agreement with the Christian Democrats, but still lacked an absolute majority. Both parties have a total of 21 seats.

Also after the vote, the PSI and the PPP (20 seats in total) announced an agreement to try to remove the PSD from power, but the representative of the Republic, Ireneu Barreto, realized that this was not viable and nominated Miguel Albuquerque. .

The May elections took place eight months after Madeira’s legislative elections on September 24, 2023, after the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, dissolved the Madeira Parliament following a political crisis that arose in January when Miguel Albuquerque was named as a defendant. in a case of alleged corruption.