The PS/Madeira defended this Thursday that it is necessary to know whether the current PSD/CDS regional government is under pressure from economic power and considered that the statements of social democrats on this subject refer to “authentic police matters”.
“We need to know whether today’s regional government is at the service of economic power or of the people of Madeira,” the PS parliamentary leader declared at the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, in Funchal.
Rui Caetano stressed that “it was the PSD deputies, who know the reality well, who denounced games and pressure”, as the issue was not raised in “coffee talks”.
“In the Commission of Inquiry, we will find out the reality of this situation,” he stressed, assuring that the PS/Madeira “will not condone what they are doing to the Madeirans”.
According to the Socialist deputy, “Miguel Albuquerque is afraid of scrutiny”, because he said in an “initial response” that “he had no business with investigative committees”.
Recently quoted by Diário de Notícias, Sérgio Marques, the then deputy elected by the constituency of Madeira, spoke of alleged “works invented from 2000″, when Alberto João Jardim (PSD) was president of the Madeiran executive, and economic groups that ” grew with the ‘garden finger'”.
Sérgio Marques noted that the administration of Jardim (predecessor of the current president, Miguel Albuquerque) “was fantastic until 2000” but believed that “they started [depois] inventing works, they wanted to continue with the same government plan, the same line, unnecessary works, that logic of development companies, all those crazy investments made by development companies”.
On the social network Facebook, the social democrat later explained that these statements were made to DN in ‘off’, [alegação que o DN prontamente contrariou: “a publicação do trabalho obedeceu a todas as regras da boa prática do jornalismo”] as part of a work on the PSD’s 47 years in power in Madeira, in an “informal part” of the conversation, not least because “they are far from up-to-date and relevant”.
The newspaper contradicted the former deputy, claiming to have complied with “all the rules of good journalism”.
The former deputy, who also served in Miguel Albuquerque’s government as Regional Secretary for European and Parliamentary Affairs between 2015 and 2017, also stated that he was removed from office due to the influence of a major economic group in the region.
Meanwhile, he announced his resignation from the mandate and the departure of the party’s regional political committee, following this controversy.
On Wednesday, in plenary, the JPP had already referred to statements by social democrats revealing “promiscuity” between politics and business.
In addition to Sérgio Marques’ statements, the party recalled that in 2017 Miguel Sousa (who was appointed regional secretary in 1984 and became executive vice president of Alberto João Jardim between 1988 and 1992) criticized the “outdated regime” with “corrupt arm”. and a “political, financial and business foreman”, and “talked about the policy of wasting financial resources” that Madeira did not have, which “led the region into bankruptcy”.
JPP deputy Élvio Sousa also recalled statements made by the current Regional Secretary of Tourism, Eduardo Jesus, in October 2017, in which he inquired: “I confirm that I am leaving, but I have not resigned. I have been fired by the President of the government”.
At the time, Eduardo Jesus was one of the regional secretaries who left the executive branch as part of a reshuffle by Miguel Albuquerque, taking his seat in the regional parliament on the PSD bench, albeit as an independent, condition in which he was chosen. .
The JPP linked the situation, among other things, to the fact that the regional secretary had then announced “an agenda to reformulate the port” of Funchal, calling into question the monopoly of the Sousa Group (maritime port operator).
Eduardo Jesus returned to the executive in 2019.
Source: DN
