In Sunday’s elections, the Left Bloc (BE) garnered 1.11% of the votes, translating to 1,586 ballots cast, thus failing to secure any seats in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira. Roberto Almada expressed disappointment in a phone interview, stating, “This result falls far short of our expectations (…) there’s no point in sugar-coating it, and we accept it as a defeat.”
However, he emphasized his resilience, asserting that despite being outside the parliament, he would continue to “oppose as much as possible” and maintain “the struggle for a better Madeira.”
Roberto Almada, the former coordinator of BE in Madeira, previously returned to the Madeiran parliament as a deputy in 2023, after the blocist absence. In the latest election, he again led the party’s ticket following his unsuccessful reelection bid during last year’s early elections in May, achieving a slightly higher result then of 1.44%.
Expressing “some concern” over the political landscape in the autonomous region where the Social Democratic Party (PSD) emerged victorious, Almada lamented, “once again, the parliament is left without a left-wing presence.”
The PSD secured a triumph with 43.43% of the vote, earning 23 seats, as per the data from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration. The JPP – Juntos Pelo Povo followed with 21.05%, securing 11 seats, while the Socialist Party (PS) garnered 15.64%, resulting in eight seats. The Chega party gained 5.47%, the CDS-PP 3%, and the Liberal Initiative (IL) 2.17%, earning three, one, and one seat, respectively.
Roberto Almada pointed out, “The party that grew the most in the opposition isn’t left- or right-wing, as they themselves like to claim,” referring to the JPP, which surpassed the PS to become the second most-voted political force, overtaking “a centrist party.”
Anticipating the formation of “yet another coalition government between the PSD and the CDS,” Almada criticized the coalition’s ongoing inability to address key issues such as housing, healthcare, work and workers’ rights, and salary appreciation.
Moreover, Almada found it troubling that despite the circumstances, Regional Government President Miguel Albuquerque and the PSD-Madeira managed to strengthen their electoral outcome. “This situation concerns us as Madeirans, as people fighting for more transparency and against corruption,” Almada stated, alluding to Albuquerque being declared a suspect in a judicial inquiry.
The BE first entered the Madeiran Legislative Assembly in the elections of 2004, achieving a breakthrough in 2015 with two elected deputies.
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