Miguel Albuquerque says there is “no need” for PSD leader to participate in the campaign

Outgoing regional government chairman and PSD/Madeira leader Miguel Albuquerque said on Tuesday that there is “no need” for the party president to participate in the regional election campaign, admitting that he is “a little disappointed” and “irritated” with Luis Montenegro.

“It’s not obligatory [a presença do líder nacional do PSD]. These are regional elections,” Miguel Albuquerque told reporters as part of an initiative in which he took part this morning as Chief Executive of Madeira, in the CR7 square in Funchal.

Answering a question from journalists, Miguel Albuquerque said that there is “no need” and “no plans” for Luis Montenegro to travel to Madeira as part of the campaign for early regional elections on May 26.

“Right now I’ll tell you: I’m a little annoyed, “whoever doesn’t think so is not the son of good people.” And I think that this idea of ​​​​removing candidates from the islands For the European Parliament, getting a suitable seat when the party has a majority in both regions was a good shot in the foot,” he emphasized.

Miguel Albuquerque also admitted that he was “a little disappointed”, but assured that he has a “good relationship” with Luis Montenegro.

“My political position, my duty is to protect the regions, so they chose me, regardless of friendship or similarity of people,” he said, revealing that he applied “pressure” for Rubina Leal to be included in the list. to a suitable place, although in the end he ended up in 9th place.

“It was the wrong choice of the party,” he added, regretting that “tradition” had been broken in relation to the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores, which had always guaranteed a suitable place on the lists, “because these are regions that have a special status in the current Treaty of the European Union.”

Asked about the possibility of a “cunning” emerging in the region after the elections with the PS, PCP and BE, similar to the one that already existed in the Assembly of the Republic, Miguel Albuquerque replied: “That is the danger.”

On the third day of the electoral campaign for the regional elections, Miguel Albuquerque, who heads the PSD list, has no agenda as a candidate, although his presence in initiatives as President of the Government of Madeira is expected.

In the last regional elections, held on September 24, the PSD leader was in Madeira on the last day of the campaign, making a short tour of the center of Funchal, accompanied by Miguel Albuquerque and some national and regional party leaders, and returned later on election evening.

The early elections will take place eight months after the last regional legislative elections, after the President of the Republic dissolved the Parliament of Madeira following the political crisis provoked in January, when the leader of the regional government (PSD/CDU-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, was named as a defendant in the process, in during which suspicions of corruption are being investigated.

In September 2023, the PSD/SDS coalition won without an absolute majority and elected 23 deputies. The PS received 11 mandates, the JPP five and Cega four, while the CDU, IL, PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary influence with the Social Democrats) and BE received one mandate each.

The Legislative Assembly of Madeira will take place on the 26th and 14 candidates are vying for 47 seats in the regional parliament in one electoral district: ADN, BE, PS, Livre, IL, RIR, CDU (PCP/PEV), Chega, CDS. -PP, MPT, PSD, PAN, PTP and JPP.