PAN Madeira understands Marcelo’s decision and says that a new executive is needed “as soon as possible”

The PAN’s only deputy in the Madeira parliament said she understood the decision of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to call early regional elections, stressing that it is necessary to guarantee “governability conditions as soon as possible”.

“What the PAN always said was that it would respect whatever Marcelo’s decision was, it was up to him to make these types of decisions, we understand the analysis he made […] and why I decided this way, which is a legitimate way”, said Mónica Freitas, speaking to the Lusa agency.

On Wednesday, the President of the Republic decided to dissolve the Madeira Assembly and call early regional elections for May 26, after listening to the nine parties with parliamentary seats and presiding over the Council of State.

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, the social democrat Miguel Albuquerque, resigned from his position after being accused as part of a process investigating suspicions of corruption in the archipelago.

The party’s spokesperson in Madeira added that, for the PAN, what is important now “is really giving a voice to the population” and forming an executive “legitimized through voting”.

“And we can guarantee that there are conditions for governance as soon as possible, given that we do not have a budget and thus guarantee some stability for the future of the region”, he reinforced.

Asked whether the party is convinced that it will be able to make a difference in the next legislature, Mónica Freitas acknowledged that, in a new political scenario, the PAN does not know whether it will have “the same power of influence”, ensuring, however, that it will continue to present their proposals.

“We are convinced that we have an electorate that is consolidated, that people recognize the value and difference that the PAN made even in just six months and, therefore, we consider that the population will once again give us that vote and this opportunity to continue to do our work because, unfortunately, in this way the legislature was extremely short”, he stated.

Regarding agreements with other parties, the deputy preferred not to talk about “hypothetical scenarios”.

“We don’t know what will emerge from these results, what we do know is that at the moment we are experiencing great political instability throughout the country, we just need to look at what is happening in the Assembly of the Republic”, he pointed out.

The PAN leader added, therefore, that the parties must dialogue and think “in favor of the population, beyond the interests of parties and majorities and oppositions”.

Regarding whether she will once again be head of the party’s regional list, Mónica Freitas indicated that “from the outset” yes, noting, however, that the party will still have to make that decision at both national and regional level.

To ensure an absolute majority in the Madeiran parliament, the PSD signed, after the September 24th elections, a parliamentary advocacy agreement with the PAN’s sole deputy, who refused to support a Regional Government led by Miguel Albuquerque until the judicial process was concluded. which investigates suspected corruption.

This position led to the resignation of the executive leader.

The entire opposition – PS, JPP, Chega, PCP, IL and BE – defended the holding of early elections on several occasions.

The executive parties, PSD and CDS-PP, considered that there was parliamentary stability to allow the continuation of the Regional Government.