PS Madeira is committed to solving the problem of access to housing.

The head of the PS list in Madeira’s legislative elections, Paulo Cafofo, pledged on Tuesday to respond to the problem of access to housing in the region, saying he had “proven himself” in this area as president of the Funchal City Council.

“We are here in Bairro dos Viveiros, but we could be in other neighborhoods here in the city of Funchal, which, in fact, were built by me,” Paulo Cafofo said, speaking to journalists on the third day of campaigning for Early elections on May 26.

At the entrance to the Viveiros residential complex, with several blocks of taverns, almost new in appearance, there is a sign stating that the construction was opened on December 14, 2018 by the then municipal president Paulo Cafofo, now a candidate for the presidency of the municipality of Madeira.

Accompanied by a delegation of about 30 people carrying white and red flags with the PS symbol, the socialist said that housing, even before it became the main issue of today, was a priority that he took on as mayor of Funchal between 2013 and year 2013. 2019.

“It was a necessity at that time, it is a necessity now, which has expanded because Madeira is actually one of the regions of the country where prices are highest, whether buying or even renting,” he said, pointing out that the price The average price for buying a house is 460 thousand euros, and renting is 1,475 euros.

“I ask, who in Madeira has the money to buy a house or rent one? This is the biggest drama in the region, and to solve these problems we must find solutions,” he stressed.

One of the PS proposals is to support the purchase of a first home, while the regional government guarantees “100% financing” so that people can take out a loan without making a down payment, which is the biggest difficulty,” he explained. Paulo Cafofo, adding that in case of non-payment of the loan, a lease agreement is entered into, leaving the region as the owner of the property.

To ensure “housing for all,” including the middle class and youth, the nominee also proposes increasing rent support, changing criteria and projected values, and increasing public housing construction by the regional government.

The candidate stressed that “the PS wants to be the government in this region”, accused the head of the PSD list, Miguel Albuquerque, of “personal instability” and defended the “useful vote for the PS”, admitting that winning these elections is “the dream of the Socialist Party”, but given that this is “also the dream of the majority of Madeirans, because there is a social majority that no longer votes for the PSD.”

The Socialist acknowledged the possibility of post-election agreements to allow the formation of a government, similar to the mechanism that the PS formed at the national level in 2015, without specifying with which parties, but repeating that “this will never happen with Chega.”

In the Madeira legislature, 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.

The elections will take place eight months after the last regional elections, after the President of the Republic dissolved Madeira’s parliament following a political crisis that arose in January when regional government leader Miguel Albuquerque was declared a defendant in the process. They were suspected of corruption and were investigated.

In 2023, the SDP/CDU 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.