Miguel Albuquerque says he is negotiating to maintain an absolute majority in Madeira to avoid elections

The resigning president of the Government of Madeira stated this Monday that he considers there is no justification for early elections in the region, adding that negotiations are in the final stages to assure the President of the Republic that the same absolute majority will remain. “Possibly, we will be able to present a majority parliamentary framework again that allows us to approve the Government Program [Regional] and the budget as quickly as possible”, Miguel Albuquerque told journalists, on the sidelines of a visit to works on a path in the municipality of Calheta.

The Regional Government of Madeira, part of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, with the parliamentary support of the PAN, has been in management since the beginning of February, after the president of the executive resigned from his position, after being accused in the context of of a process in which suspected corruption in the archipelago is investigated.

Following the dismissal of Miguel Albuquerque, formally accepted on February 5th and which led to the fall of the executive, the representative of the Republic, Ireneu Barreto, announced that he would keep the Government of Madeira in management until the head of State, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa , decide whether to dissolve the Madeiran parliament. The President of the Republic announced this Monday that he will hear on Wednesday the parties with seats in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, meeting the State Council on the same day, at 6pm. As Expresso said, Marcelo’s intention is to call elections for May 26, two weeks before the European elections.

Asked about the composition of the absolute majority that he intends to present to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Albuquerque admitted that “it will possibly be the same”, made up of PSD, CDS-PP and PAN.

“Possibly, yes [a mesma maioria]. At this moment, we are still finalizing the negotiation framework“, he added, indicating that he does not have to “give up anything more” to have the support of the PAN and that it is “in the regional interest” for Madeira to have a working majority.

The PAN defended from the beginning of the political crisis in Madeira that it would only maintain the parliamentary influence agreement, which guarantees an absolute majority to the executive, if Miguel Albuquerque left the Regional Government. But this afternoon, the PAN deputy has already shown herself available to “only make viable” the Government Program and the Regional Budget of the PSD/CDS-PP executive, if early elections are not held in the archipelago. “There is no agreement. But, everything depends on the position of the President of the Republic. If he decides to maintain the Regional Government [de coligação PSD/CDS-PP], We are only available to make the Government Program and the Regional Budget viable“, said Mónica Freitas, speaking to the Lusa agency, reacting to Miguel Albuquerque’s statements.

In statements to journalists this afternoon, Albuquerque argued that Madeira cannot “continue to postpone” the Regional Budget, remembering that there is also a community framework to implement and measures that with early elections could only be implemented “by November or December”.

“We would stay in twelfths for a year”, he warned, insisting that it was in “Madeira’s interest” to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and arguing that “it is in no one’s interest” to call early elections in the region. “We are not in a position to play political parties,” he said, asking parties to be “responsible”especially because “the majority is legitimized” and the “candidate for president is the same”.

This Monday, the President of the Republic regained the power to dissolve the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, after six months have passed since the regional elections of September 24, which the PSD/CDS-PP coalition won without an absolute majority.