The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, called early elections in Madeira for May 26th.
In a note issued on the Presidency’s website, it is indicated that Marcelo decided to dissolve the regional Legislative Assembly of Madeira, after a favorable opinion “by a majority of voters” from the Council of State, which met this Wednesday.
The statement also states that the date for the regional elections is May 26th, with the respective decree having been signed and “immediately endorsed by the acting Prime Minister”, António Costa, represented by the Minister of the Presidency, Mariana Vieira da Silva.
The State Council meeting, which focused on discussing the political crisis in Madeira, began at around 6pm and ended after 8pm. José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, elected president of the Assembly of the Republic in the afternoon, was present at the meeting.
Upon leaving the Council of State, the President of the Republic accompanied Aguiar-Branco to the spout room to say goodbye to the newly elected, but did not make any statement to journalists.
Election campaign takes place between May 12th and 24th
According to the electoral law, according to article 57 of the Electoral Law for the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, “the electoral campaign period begins on the 14th day prior to the day designated for the election and ends at twenty-four hours before the day scheduled for the election”.
Therefore, the electoral campaign for Madeira’s anticipated regional elections will take place between May 12th and 24th, in accordance with the Legislative Assembly’s electoral law.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa regained the power to dissolve the Legislative Assembly of Madeira earlier this week, after six months had passed since the regional elections on September 24, which the PSD/CDS-PP coalition won without an absolute majority.
After the hearing with the head of state, the resigning president of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque (PSD), reiterated that there was no justification for early elections in the region, considering that there is a “framework of parliamentary stability” that allows the continuation of the executive.
The entire opposition — PS, JPP, Chega, PCP, IL and BE — once again defended the need for early elections and the regional leader of the socialists, Paulo Cafôfo, revealed that the President intended to dissolve the assembly and schedule legislative elections for the 26th of May.
The executive parties, currently in management, PSD and CDS-PP, considered that there was parliamentary stability to allow the continuation of the Regional Government, with the parliamentary support of the PAN, with which the Social Democrats signed an understanding after the September elections past, to guarantee an absolute majority.
The Regional Government of Madeira has been in management since the beginning of February, after the president of the executive, the social democrat Miguel Albuquerque, asked to resign from his position after being accused as part of a process in which suspicions of corruption in the archipelago.
With Lusa
