“I am not subject to blackmail nor can I work based on blackmail.” This statement was made by Miguel Albuquerque, who flatly refuses to dismiss the Secretary of Civil Protection or the President of the Regional Civil Protection Service, even though this is a condition required by the parliamentary majority and to maintain the government’s political stability. The President of the Government is putting his foot down.
“If they want a government leader to wander around according to what is said on the internet or the momentary tastes of public opinion, we will be left without direction”, he said this afternoon in Ponta Delgada where he participated in the Eucharistic celebration of Bom Jesus, the patron saint of the town and where he also confessed to being a devout believer.
“My role is to do everything that was approved in parliament, maintaining a course of action for Madeira”, he reaffirmed, with several mayors from the municipality of São Vicente at his side.
Albuquerque insists that “we cannot jump around or zigzag according to moods that often do not reflect the majority” of Madeirans. “What they can demand of me is that I comply with the principles that were set out in the [Government] Programme and approved by the population. That is what is essential”, he stated as being an assertive framework for maintaining political stability.