The vice-president of Madeira’s centrist party, Pedro Pereira, expressed concerns following a meeting with the regional Finance Secretary, Duarte Freitas, about whether the issues raised during budget negotiations in December remained relevant.
The regional government is currently consulting all political parties with representation in the regional parliament regarding this year’s budget proposal. The archipelago is operating under provisional twelfths following a no-confidence vote in December that led to elections in March.
The topics previously advocated by the CDS-PP in their ultimately rejected proposal included a reduction in taxes, increased support for the elderly, a minimum allocation of 120 million euros for housing, and the resumption of construction on Porto Santo’s new health unit. The project’s progress has stalled due to political instability, and the public tender for the second phase is expected to proceed in June or July.
Pereira noted additional topics discussed at today’s meeting, such as the extraordinary teaching staff recruitment contest and the creation of pet crematoriums.
The issue of recovering damage from wildfires, which have severely impacted the environmental and central mountainous regions, was also raised. Pereira emphasized the necessity for the regional government to address this challenge.
“We also brought up two priorities for the CDS: reducing health care waiting lists,” Pereira stated, referencing existing legislation that allows the use of private providers to address these delays. Clarification is needed on how this will be implemented, including budget and conditions.
Other concerns mentioned were “the reference salary for young graduates and the need to bring this issue to social dialogue and negotiation for implementation.”
Pereira contended that the Finance Secretary “took note” of the proposals and some sector-specific ones would need to be “referred to the relevant secretaries.”
“We believe there will be receptivity for several of these,” Pereira added.
The Regional Budget for this year is scheduled for debate between June 16 and 20.
On December 9, the Madeira budget proposal for 2025, presented by the Regional Government led by social-democrat Miguel Albuquerque, was voted down in the island’s parliament, with opposing votes from PS, JPP, Chega, IL, and PAN.
The only supporting votes came from the PSD and CDS-PP benches, whose parliamentary accord was insufficient for an absolute majority.
This marked the first time a Regional Budget had been rejected in the Madeira Assembly since the onset of autonomy nearly 50 years ago.
The defeated budget proposal amounted to 2.611 billion euros, with an investment plan budgeted at 1.112 billion euros.
A week later, on December 17, a no-confidence motion against the Regional Government moved by Chega was approved, leading to the executive’s fall and the calling of early regional elections.
The elections took place on March 23, resulting in the PSD securing 23 out of 47 parliamentary seats, later achieving an outright majority through a parliamentary and governing agreement with the CDS-PP’s sole elected member.
The Madeira Legislative Assembly now also includes 11 deputies from JPP, which gained the opposition’s leadership, a role traditionally held by the PS, which lost three seats and currently holds eight. Chega secured three seats and IL one.
