The regional secretary for Tourism, Environment and Culture of Madeira, Eduardo Jesus, is facing criticism following his offensive remarks directed at two Socialist delegates during the 2025 Regional Budget debate. The comments, which were caught on the live broadcast of the debate, have prompted the Socialist Party (PS) to file a “formal protest against the offensive and undignified behavior” of the official.
During the debate on Tuesday, Eduardo Jesus referred to delegates Sancha Campanella and Sílvia Silva using the expressions “stupid b****” and “this woman”, respectively.
In response, the Socialist Party Parliamentary Group submitted a “formal protest for the offensive language and undignified behavior of the regional secretary for Tourism, Environment and Culture towards Socialist delegates Sílvia Silva and Sancha de Campanella and other opposition delegates” to the Madeira Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Quoted in the statement, PS parliamentary leader Paulo Cafôfo emphasized that delegate Sancha de Campanella was “subjected to direct and unacceptable insults” in “coarse, sexist language, absolutely unacceptable in the highest representative body of regional autonomy”.
Delegate Sílvia Silva also faced “disrespectful treatment”, involving an expression that “clearly conveys a tone of diminishment and gender disrespect, inappropriate in any institutional space, even more so in the parliamentary chamber”.
“These are not isolated cases; these insults add to other instances of improper, aggressive, and provocative language directed at other opposition delegates during the same session”, the PS stated.
According to RTP, Eduardo Jesus also referred to JPP delegate Rafael Nunes as “piece of s***” and “head clown”.
In the request addressed to Rubina Leal, president of the Madeira Legislative Assembly, Paulo Cafôfo argued that the organization cannot remain indifferent, “at the risk of becoming an accomplice through omission, normalizing insult, language abuse, and personal attacks in political debate”.
Eduardo Jesus defends himself: “Terms I used are in the dictionary”
In statements to the Diário de Notícias da Madeira, Eduardo Jesus argued that the terms he used “are in the Portuguese language dictionary” and are “adjectives” used “frequently”.
“The terms I used – more than one – are in the Portuguese language dictionary and, as can be seen, they are adjectives that we regularly use and that popular lexicon frequently employs. Any citizen would use those terms as part of their daily expressions”, he stated.
Speaking to RTP, the official stated that despite the controversy, he will not resign. He also emphasized that “what is important is to focus on what is essential for Madeira” and regretted that “a part of the debate has been isolated from the whole”.
Parties lament “shamelessness” and “normalized misogyny”
The day following the offenses, Élvio Sousa, president of the JPP, condemned the “shamelessness” and emphasized that the regional secretary “should have already been dismissed” due to the “execrable language”.
Isabel Moreira, from the Socialist Party (PS), denounced “yet another normalization in progress”. “The misogyny is being normalized at this level of regional governance. We await appropriate reactions,” she wrote on the social media platform X.
More normalization in progress. Misogyny is normalized at this level of regional governance. We await appropriate reactions. https://t.co/4eSECjPaMT
— Isabel Moreira (@IsabelLMMoreira) June 19, 2025
Libre Madeira condemned “with absolute vehemence the statements” of the official and demanded “a formal and public apology”.
“The fight against machismo and gender discrimination cannot be waged with words alone — it is through actions and reactions to incidents like this that institutions’ commitment to equality is measured”, stressed the party, quoted by the Diário de Notícias da Madeira.
In response to the criticism, Jaime Filipe Ramos, of the PSD, defended the social-democratic secretary, stating that “pointing fingers at only one person is unfair”.
