PAN Madeira says Albuquerque is no longer a ‘problem’ after election win

The only PAN deputy in the Parliament of Madeira said this Monday that the president of the regional government is no longer “the problem” after the PSD won the elections, calling for consensus to end the political deadlock.

“For now, the problem for Madeirans is no longer Miguel Albuquerque. From the moment we went to the polls, the PSD was the party with the most votes, and the representative of the Republic believed that Miguel Albuquerque had all the conditions to be appointed President of Madeira. Government,” Monica Freitas told reporters at the end of a meeting between the regional government and representatives of different parties aimed at reaching consensus on the executive program in Funchal.

The Regional Government invited all parties with seats in the Madeira Legislative Assembly to its first meeting, which took place this afternoon, to try to reach a consensus that would lead to the approval of the Executive Programme. PS and JPP declined the invitation and did not attend.

The meetings will continue on Thursday with bilateral meetings between the regional government and political forces.

On Wednesday last week, the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, announced the withdrawal of the government program from the discussion taking place in the Parliament of Madeira, the vote of which is scheduled for the next day.

The document will be rejected because the PS, JPP and Chega, with a total of 24 deputies out of the 47 that make up the semi-circle, have declared their vote against.

Although Mónica deprived Miguel Albuquerque of political confidence in the previous legislature after the regional government president and PSD/Madeira leader was declared a defendant in an investigation into suspicions of corruption in the region at the end of January, Mónica Freitas assured that “it is not the PND that will continue to insist on a problem that has already been legitimized by the population” in the early elections on May 26.

“Miguel Albuquerque is actually a factor in instability. If we did not have Miguel Albuquerque, we would not be in this impasse, because from the very beginning this is what the parties use as the reason why they cannot approve the Program and Budget,” said the sole deputy of PAN.

Defending that “the people of Madeira and Porto Santo need the parties to come forward and say what the solution is and what can come of it.” [destas negociações com o Governo Regional]”, Monica Freitas said that the decision is a consensus between the parties to approve the government program and budget.

If the parties do not “have the opportunity to work together,” he added, the person who “must come forward is the representative of the Republic, who must also bear responsibility in this regard.”

Mónica Freitas also stressed that for the first time, parties are “in a privileged position” in Madeira, since the PSD-led government does not have a majority, contrary to what has always happened in the region.

“Political parties have more than ever the opportunity to approve their measures, put forward their demands, monitor and ensure the effective implementation of what is provided for in the Program,” he said.

It is therefore important “to have this dialogue and the political maturity of the parties” because parties “with greater representation could play a much more dominant role in this situation, but they do not,” he said, referring to the PS and JPP. who declined the regional government’s invitation to today’s meeting.

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.