Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, Jan. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The leader of the PS/Madeira, Paulo Cafôfo, on Wednesday accused the president of the regional government in office, Miguel Albuquerque, of lying and blackmail when he claims that work on the region's new hospital will stop due to the fall of the government.
"This work is included in the Investment and Development Expenditure Plan for the Autonomous Region of Madeira, which has been approved and is multi-annual in nature. The budget framework law itself provides for exceptions to the duodecimal regime, particularly in the case of commitments that have already been made, such as this one, and projects like this, which are of clear public interest," he clarified.
Paulo Cafôfo was speaking at a press conference at the site where the Central and University Hospital of Madeira is being built, in the parish of São Martinho, on the outskirts of Funchal, a project valued at around €340 million.
"I have made a commitment to the Madeirans that, with the PS and with me as leader of the [regional] government, this work will not stop and Madeira will move forward in a different direction than the one the PSD has been taking the region through, at the cost of manipulation and using people for its defence," he said.
The leader of the PS/Madeira, the largest party in the regional opposition, accused Miguel Albuquerque of lying when he says that the work will stop because the region doesn't have an approved budget for 2025 and because the minority Social Democrat executive fell with the approval of a motion of censure.
"If the third phase of the project isn't launched, it will be due to sabotage and political terrorism on the part of the executive," he said.
Miguel Albuquerque has repeatedly stated that the rejection of the region's draft budget bill for 2025 prevents the regional government from going ahead with the launch of the international public tender for the third phase of the project, so that work will stop as of May, the date set for the conclusion of the second phase currently underway.
The regional PS leader accuses the executive of "trying to scare the public" and criticises Miguel Albuquerque for being "capable of doing anything to save his own skin, even if it means harming Madeira and the Madeirans".
"The work will only stop if Miguel Albuquerque really wants it to," he declared.
On 17 December, the Madeira regional parliament approved the motion of censure presented by Chega against the minority PSD regional government headed by Miguel Albuquerque, with votes in favour from all the opposition parties - PS, JPP, Chega, IL and PAN, which together make up more than half of the members of parliament.
PSD and CDS-PP voted against. The two parties that support the regional government have a parliamentary agreement, but they don't have an absolute majority.
The approval of the motion of censure, which is unprecedented in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, implied, according to the respective Political-Administrative Statute, the dismissal of the regional government, formed on 6 June, which will remain in office until the new executive takes office.
Chega presented the motion of censure on 6 November and justified it with the judicial investigations involving Miguel Albuquerque and four regional secretaries, all of whom have been made official suspects.
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