In an interview with Público, the president of the Regional Government of Madeira and the PSD-M, Miguel Albuquerque, maintained his reputation as one of the protagonists of the national political arena for the future of Portugal, as he once again defended his actions in approaching the nationalist right wing party leader André Ventura (Chega).
In a conversation with Público journalist, Márcio Berenguer, The President explained his idea of creating closer ties between his party, the PSD, with other well established right-wing parties, including Chega, the CDS¹ (Peoples Popular Party) and the Liberal Initiative².
Basically, he explained that in Portugal the right needs to organise itself in order to face the challenge posed by the left leaning parties, especially as the PS (Socialist Party) is influenced by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and Bloco de Esquerda (BE).
“The PSD must lead a federation of parties from the right and the centre right. Obviously, this has to be achieved through conversations and discussions with the various parties – either with the CDS, with Chega, or with the Liberal Initiative. The PSD must do what Sá Carneiro did in 1979, by creating a Democratic Alliance (AD) even at a time when the CDS were accused of being a fascist party.
“Sá Carneiro³ created a Democratic Alliance with the PPM (Popular Monarchist Party(, which was formed on the 23rd of May, 1974), the CDS and the Reform Movement. And that year he won the elections with an absolute majority and quickly introduced major reforms, including a series of privatizations, but did not have time to implement all the changes he considered necessary. We need a reformist government, warned Albuquerque, one that can defeat this left-wing, conservative majority, which is stagnant and which in the end will fail.”
Furthermore, Miguel Albuquerque, does not see Chega as deserving of the negative press that it receives because as far as he is concerned the party is one of a series of nationalist, conservative parties that operate throughout Europe. And with this in mind, the Madeiran leader argues that dialogue should be initiated in order to “arrive at a common programme” that will become a “design for Portugal.”
When asked whether the PSD should push beyond the current boundaries with Chega, the president responded forcefully saying that that line had already been crossed, and that he was tired of “the useful idiots of the centre right who are always playing the game from the left.”
At another level, The President again criticised the decisions of the Constitutional Court, explaining that independent measures had already been taken in Madeira, such as the mandatory use of masks, which he justifies in support of defending public health, arguing. “A person who carries the virus can be compared to biological warfare bomb who, with or without knowing/wishing to, he/she can infect 100, 200 or 300 people. We have to control this potential source of infection, in order to safeguard the health and lives of the population at large.”
Chega is a nationalist party, which was formed by André Ventura on the 9th of April 2019.
CDS¹ – is a Conservative Christian Party formed on the 19th of July 1974.
The Liberal Initiative² was founded in 2017 advocating economic, political, and social freedom.
Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro³, GCTE, GCC, GCL was a Portuguese politician. He was Prime Minister of Portugal for most of 1980, and founder of the Social Democratic Party. He only held office as Prime Minister for eleven months before dying in a plane crash with his partner, “Snu” Abecassis, on the 4th of December 1980.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
