This Wednesday, the President of the Republic hears the parties with seats in the Madeira Assembly and the Council of State about the political situation in the Autonomous Region. Indication of dissolution will be published this Wednesday.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is expected to publish the decree dissolving the Madeira Assembly this Wednesday, after hearing the Council of State, a meeting that is scheduled to start at 6 pm, according to Diário de Notícias da Madeira.
The Madeiran publication highlights that this indication of dissolution of the regional parliament is being transmitted by Marcelo to the representatives of the parties who are being heard this Wednesday by the head of state.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is listening this Wednesday to the parties with parliamentary seats in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira about the political situation in the Region and will then meet with the Council of State.
The auditions are in the following order:
- 10:00 – Left Block (BE)
- 10:30 am – People-Animals-Nature (PAN)
- 11:00 – Liberal Initiative (IL)
- 11:30 am – Portuguese Communist Party (PCP)
- 12:00 – CDS – Popular Party (CDS-PP)
- 12:30 pm – Arrive (CH)
- 2:00 pm – Together for the People (JPP)
- 2:30 pm – Socialist Party (PS)
- 3:00 pm – Social Democratic Party (PPD/PSD)
After the hearings with the parties, Marcelo receives the State Council at 6 pm.
Since March 24th, as six months have passed since the regional elections on September 24th, the Head of State has had the possibility of dissolving the Madeira parliament.
Expresso reported last week that Marcelo would be inclined to dissolve the Madeira Assembly, and call early elections, before swearing in the Government of the Democratic Alliance (PSD/CDS-PP/PSD), in the Assembly of the Republic.
Government in management
Currently, the Madeiran Executive is in management, after its president, Miguel Albuquerque, resigned from his position, which was accepted by the representative of the Republic for Madeira, Ireneu Barreto.
This resignation came after the searches on January 24 that led to Albuquerque being named as a defendant.
The next step will depend on Marcelo’s decision, as explained by the Republic’s representative. If the President of the Republic decides to dissolve the regional parliament, the executive will remain in office until the election. If Marcelo does not dissolve Ireneu Barreto, he will call the party with the most votes in the last regional elections (held on September 24, 2023), in this case the PSD, to form a new executive.
This week, the resigning President of the Government of Madeira and leader of PSD Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, said that he would present to Marcelo, at this Wednesday’s hearing, a government solution for the Region with the aim of avoiding early elections.
Following the searches, the PAN, with which the PSD had a parliamentary agreement, stated that Albuquerque was unable to continue governing.
The CDS-PP, with whom the PSD has a governmental and parliamentary agreement, considered that Albuquerque was not capable of continuing, and therefore a new Government should be formed, with approval of the respective Budget and Government Program. However, the leader of CDS-PP Madeira, Rui Barreto, said that the CDS-PP did not ask for Albuquerque’s removal, but rather the PAN.
Opposition parties in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (PS, Juntos pelo Povo [JPP]Chega, Bloco de Esquerda, PCP, Liberal Initiative) have defended early elections.
