Ventura reiterates there will be ‘no agreement’ with Albuquerque

On Tuesday, Chegi’s leader confirmed that there would be “no agreement” with Miguel Albuquerque at the head of the Madeira regional government, stressing that this did not mean the party would be a blocking force in the regional parliament.

“And there won’t be [acordo] for a simple reason: because we understand that Miguel Albuquerque should not be a candidate, and when you have principles and values, we do not succumb to this because of any political circumstances,” Andre Ventura said, speaking to reporters in Porto. Canizal, in the area east of Madeira, is part of the campaign for regional elections on Sunday.

However, this does not mean that “Chega is a form of blockade,” the Chega leader added, saying that the party “may not enter into any government agreements, but evaluate on a case-by-case basis what is good for the people of Madeira and Porto Santenses.”

Andre Ventura said that according to the polls he conducted, “the majority will depend on the PSD and Chegi”, which in “normal scenarios” could mean a “stability solution”.

“It turns out that what is happening now in the autonomous region of Madeira is not a normal scenario, it is a scenario in which the government resigned due to serious problems with corruption,” he emphasized.

However, he added that “this does not mean that if there is a good proposal for fishermen, for police officers, for taxi drivers, for journalists, for everyone,” the party will not approve it.

Asked several times whether the PSD/Madeira government’s program would be viable, given that the document had to be approved before any proposal could be discussed in the regional parliament, Andre Ventura replied that now was not the time and that he would evaluate it depended from the election result.

According to the leader of Chega, the outgoing president of the regional government, Miguel Albuquerque, who again headed the PSD list, does not enjoy “political authority” and does not realize that “the time has come to leave.”

On the other hand, Social Democratic leader Luis Montenegro did not have the “courage” to tell him that his time “has come to an end,” he added.

“And now we are discussing here whether there will be a majority, as if Chega was left with this burden on his shoulders. The SDP is the one that makes poor choices, goes to votes, and we are left with the burden of control over the political stability of the region,” he said.

Upon arrival in Porto do Canizal, municipality of Machico, Andre Ventura was approached and talked for a few minutes with the fishermen, who told him about the problems of the profession, demands for improved working conditions and increased fishing quotas.

Sunday’s legislative elections in Madeira will feature 14 candidates vying for 47 seats in the regional parliament in one constituency: ADN, BE, PS, Livre, IL, RIR, CDU (PCP/PEV), Chega, CDS-PP. , MPT, PSD, PAN, PTP and JPP.

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, Cega four, and the CDU, IL, PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary influence with the Social Democrats) and BE received one mandate each.