Despite having publicly endorsed Henrique Gouveia e Melo’s candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic, former President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Alberto João Jardim, admits he may not vote in the first round of the presidential elections.
The reason for this decision stems from the admiral’s, as well as other candidates’, refusal to support constitutional revision.
According to the former PSD/Madeira leader, “changes cannot be made without revising the Constitution,” whether in Justice, Health, or other areas.
“First, the Constitution must be revised to make the country function. Even Chega does not want constitutional revision because, on that day, Chega’s circus ends,” he stated on Monday night during a political commentary segment on RTP Madeira.
“None of the candidates speak about constitutional revision; all say it is unnecessary,” he remarked. “I was enthusiastic about the admiral; he is a figure not beholden to party games, but the problem is not the parties; the problem is who controls the parties today.”
“The absurdity of this country is people who claim to be against wild capitalism, yet they don’t want constitutional revision, knowing that large financial groups dominate the major Portuguese parties because they need funding,” the former leader added.
Alberto João Jardim acknowledges being one of the signatories supporting Henrique Gouveia e Melo’s candidacy, “but later” saw him in television debates stating “that constitutional revision is unnecessary.” Hence, he accused all presidential candidates of being “situationalists.”
“I will not vote for people who, by refusing constitutional revision, disadvantage Madeira,” he assured. “Madeira can never move beyond this tutored autonomy without constitutional revision. Saying one is against or that constitutional revision is unnecessary clearly goes against Madeira’s interests.”
Alberto João Jardim, who led the Madeira social-democratic executive from 1978 to 2015, said he has only seen the various candidates for Belém “saying nonsense” in television debates and assured: “I will not go against my conscience nor against Madeira’s interests.”
For this reason, “if this continues,” he admits he may stay home on January 18.
“In the second round, I will definitely vote—there are only two—I’ll see which one is less bad for the country,” he admitted.
Support “against the party monopoly” and a promise to deepen autonomies
In July, when announcing support for Admiral Gouveia e Melo, Jardim stated he was siding with “a person outside a system that is exhausting the Portuguese” and said, “anyone who says it isn’t, is a hypocrite; just talk to people day-to-day on the street.”
“I am against party democracy, against the monopoly of parties in controlling legislative power and candidacy powers to the Legislative Assembly,” he stated at the time.
Jardim argued that “a military figure, by status, is not mixed in with parties,” emphasizing that “a military figure is essentially also civil society.”
Despite acknowledging his friendship with the nationally supported PSD candidate, Luís Marques Mendes, Alberto João Jardim believed he would not win.
“A few months ago, I mentioned that I regretted Marques Mendes being a candidate because I wouldn’t want to see him lose an election,” he said.
For his part, on the occasion, Henrique Gouveia e Melo highlighted the importance of Alberto João Jardim’s support, considering his “historical background” and the “contribution he made to autonomy, to the region, and to Portuguese politics.”
“It is an individual support, as I always wish, and I am very happy to have his support,” he declared. The presidential candidate also promised that, if elected, he would do everything possible to maintain and deepen autonomies “as far as possible.”
