“TAll programmatic measures of the CDS-PP will be included in the Government’s program, more than 95% of the proposals in the CDS electoral manifesto will be included in future regional budgets,” declared José Manuel Rodrigues, speaking to journalists at a hotel in Funchal, where meetings of the party’s political commission and regional council took place.
José Manuel Rodrigues, who signed a parliamentary and governmental agreement on Tuesday with the leader of PSD/Madeira, following the anticipated regional legislative elections on Sunday, which the social democrats won, stated that the document was approved unanimously by CDS-PP/Madeira.
“The CDS approved unanimously the parliamentary and governmental agreement made with the PSD. The agreement safeguards the political and programmatic positions of the CDS and guarantees the party a presence in the [Regional] parliament and Government,” he emphasized, reiterating that the agreement reflects the electorate’s desire “for political stability and a government for four years.”
According to the final results, posted on Tuesday at the Palácio de São Lourenço in Funchal, the PSD won Sunday’s legislative elections in Madeira without an absolute majority, securing 62,059 votes and the election of 23 deputies, among a total of 47 parliamentarians.
The party was one seat short of an absolute majority, so the agreement with CDS-PP, having one deputy elected in these legislatures, achieves that goal.
The JPP obtained 30,091 votes (11 mandates), the PS 22,351 (eight mandates), Chega 7,821 (three mandates), CDS 4,289 (one mandate), and IL 3,097 (one mandate).
José Manuel Rodrigues also noted that the agreement stipulates that PSD and CDS-PP will vote together in parliament on the Government Program, budgets, and investment plans, as well as the “political, economic, and social reforms necessary for the region’s development.”
Additionally, he mentioned that the agreement includes, among other issues, “the urgency of a constitutional revision to expand the powers of the autonomies, the need to revise the Law of Finances of the Autonomous Regions, requiring the State to observe the principle of territorial continuity, especially in terms of covering the costs of insularity, and also the possibility of creating a fiscal system in the autonomous region.”
“This agreement is based on the PSD’s program, endorsed by the voters, complemented by the CDS program presented to the population,” he reiterated.
The CDS-PP/Madeira leader noted that a joint list with the PSD for the national legislative elections on May 18 was also unanimously approved.
The CDS-PP has previously governed with the PSD in Madeira and had, in the legislature now ending, a parliamentary agreement with the social democrats.
In 2019 and 2023, the social democrats also needed to make parliamentary agreements (first with the CDS-PP and then with PAN) to achieve a majority.
After the anticipatory 2024 elections, the PSD (19 deputies) formed a minority executive, as the agreement made with CDS-PP (two elected) was insufficient for an absolute majority.
