Five years after they came together to form a parliamentary majority government, the PSD/CDS coalition has reached breaking point. In fact, their imminent divorce has already been announced and the split is said to be due to political circumstances and not because of any disagreements between members of both parties.
However, the majority of the Social Democrats, have hoped that a split would emerge as they no longer see being connected with the PSD as an advantage.
That is also why Rui Barreto is now seen as exiting the PSD/CDS marital home. A logical consequence after having signed an agreement with the PSD-M that strengthened the party’s presence in decision-making positions, but which ended up reducing its effectiveness in the Madeiran political spectrum.
As in all cases, some feel that the reason for the split has more to do with CDS members feeling that the party lacks identity and a closeness with the electorate rather than from a detachment of political ideals. Even in 2019, the party was beginning to feel a decline in its popularity having only secured three seats in the Regional Assembly of Madeira, when in 2015 they won a parliamentary group with seven deputies. In four years their popularity went from 17,489 votes to 8,246 showing that half of the party’s voters had lost confidence in their effectiveness.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
