Nuno Melo highlights ‘great victory’ and says Albuquerque must resolve issue of understanding

The president of the CDS-PP emphasized this Monday that the coalition with the PSD won a “great victory” in the regional elections in Madeira and believes that the decision on possible agreements with other parties remains with Miguel Albuquerque.

“I remember that most of the polls had an interval margin that also predicted this result, and this result was a big win. Obviously, an absolute majority would be much better than a victory without an absolute majority, but I believe they won.” all municipalities and the vast majority of parishes,” emphasized Nuno Melo.

In a conversation with Lusa, the MEP noted that the PSD and SDS-PP managed to elect 23 MPs, although they were one elected member short of achieving an absolute majority, and said that there was “no point” for them to try to turn “victory into defeat.”

The PS “lost eight deputies, only 11 were elected,” noted the chairman of the SDS-PP.

“It was this purge that led to the dispersal of votes, which led to a new plurality of political players, so the PS really suffered a big defeat on election night, and for me it is very impressive, if not cartoonish, that this is so While the PS secretary general has not yet been called upon to justify the hecatomb.” , – stated the centrist.

Nuno Melo believed that since the coalition was unable to obtain an absolute majority, “it is necessary to find a solution that will provide the necessary majority to govern, and it is known, having heard the President of the Regional Government and the President of the PSD of Madeira, that these decisions will pass through the deputy of the PAN or IL.”

“I, as president of the national party, cannot interfere in this,” he pointed out when asked what the best option would be, arguing that it was “an exclusive question for the assessment of the autonomies.”

“In a small electoral environment like Madeira, [há] always private and personal circumstances influencing electoral and political dynamics that may, beyond purely ideological issues, justify options. This assessment is the responsibility of the one who leads this coalition, that is, Dr. Miguel Albuquerque, and whom I will respect without expressing an opinion on this matter,” said Nuno Melo.

The President of the CDS-PP also noted that “if the Madeira results are transferred to the legislative elections, what is happening at the moment will be a change of cycle and the end of the reign of Dr. António Costa”, so he refuses to turn “the hecatomb of Dr. António Costa and the PS into silence, and the victory of the SDP and CDS into defeat,” because, in his opinion, “this is a great victory.”

Asked whether the PSD/SDS coalition could be repeated at the national level, Melo replied: “Anything can be a solution. I don’t think this is a solution for the PSD, and from our side it is important for me to prepare the CDS for what is normal for a political party that has to face elections alone.”

According to the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Social Democrats and Centrists received 43.13% of the votes and 23 seats in the regional parliament, consisting of a total of 47 deputies.

After these elections, the number of parties represented in the Madeira Parliament will increase from five to nine in the next legislature.

Four years ago, the SDP elected 21 deputies, losing for the first time the absolute majority it had held since 1976, and formed a coalition government with the SDS-PP (three deputies).