The president of Chega said today that the party wants to “break” the bipartisanship between PSD and PS that marks Portuguese politics and said that the September 24 elections in Madeira will be the “first step” of change.
“I think that people have to, for the first time, think about whether they want to make a change or not”, said André Ventura, stressing that “Madeira will be the first step of that choice”.
The president of Chega was speaking during a visit to the auction and fishing port of Caniçal, in the municipality of Machico, eastern Madeira, as part of a three-day trip to the region, as part of the preparation for the regional legislative elections of September 24, which ends today with a dinner / rally on the island of Porto Santo.
“There are two feelings that I take from the Autonomous Region of Madeira: the tiredness [expressed by the people] with the PSD majority governance and a certainty that they do not want the Socialist Party”, he said, considering that the balance of the visit is “very positive”.
André Ventura stressed that, as at national level, Chega wants to assert itself as the third largest political force in Madeira and contribute to removing the absolute majority from the PSD, which has governed the archipelago since 1976, but in coalition with the CDS-PP since 2019.
The Chega leader also highlighted the “importance of not having an absolute majority in the region”, stressing that this “will force negotiation, will force conditioning and will force others to give in on fundamental matters”.
“This is the moment of change and Chega is ready and active in this change”, he reinforced.
During the visit to Caniçal, where the tuna fishing fleet is based, André Ventura talked to several fishermen and, in the end, declared that Chega will “do everything possible so that fishing has less bureaucracy, more quota and more work capacity”.
In the regional elections of September 22, 2019, the PSD lost for the first time its absolute majority in the Regional Legislative Assembly of Madeira, electing 21 deputies out of a total of 47, with about 40% of the votes, and formed a coalition government with the CDS-PP (three deputies).
In that election, the PS elected 19 deputies, the JPP three and the PCP one.
The next regional legislative elections in Madeira are scheduled for September 24.
