The Juntos Pelo Povo party held the 3rd edition of the Festa do Povo this Saturday, 7th September, in Ponta do Sol. It was an opportunity for the secretary-general of the political structure, Élvio Sousa, to stress that “if Miguel Albuquerque is in power today, it is the exclusive responsibility of the CDS, Chega, PAN and IL”.
“They are the guarantors of Albuquerque”, he said, in front of the JPP activists and supporters, accusing the leader of the Madeiran Executive of “plunging Madeira into poverty and expelling the middle class from constitutional access to housing”.
“The JPP is the party of Madeira, of Autonomy and of the entire working class”, said Élvio Sousa, criticizing, on the other hand, the “achievement of regional governance supported by the parties that guarantor the Albuquerque regime”.
The JPP spokesperson criticized the “excessive spending, in a strategic subsidy dependence and subservience to two/three monopolies that do not allow economic freedom to prevail” of the Regional Government led by Miguel Albuquerque.
The JPP leader also warned of Miguel Albuquerque’s “contradictions”, from his “windfall” statement that “if he did not obtain a majority he would refuse to govern”, to his recent “turning his back” on the victims of the fires “returning to the deckchair in Porto Santo” while Madeira was burning.
“Albuquerque is unfortunately a man of his word, a president who has already lost all the trust of the population,” he summarizes.
With the parliamentary year just around the corner, Élvio Sousa accuses Albuquerque of having “transformed the Regional Legislative Assembly into a business hub, protected by a Political Statute that has not been revised for over 20 years”, and lists the “false promises of the PSD/CDS, Miguel Albuquerque and José Manuel Rodrigues”, respectively, and of the “co-opted” Chega, PAN and IL.
“From the guarantee of the ferry without any commitment, to the promise that there would be a boat in January for Porto Santo, to the reduction in the cost of maritime transport of goods, to the reduction of healthcare waiting lists, to the end of benefits and privileges, lifelong subsidies, the accumulation of pensions with salaries, incompatibilities and impediments, none of this has been fulfilled to date”, he guarantees.
To the “guarantors” of the government, Élvio Sousa states: “Where are Chega, IL, PAN and CDS who made the empty words and deceptions of the Government Program possible? Why did they say nothing when Albuquerque turned his back on the victims of the fires and refused to go, in person, to the Assembly to report to the deputies about the fires that raged in the Region for 12 days?”
With the Festa do Povo held in Ponta do Sol, a municipality where the JPP was the third most voted party, behind the PSD and PS, Élvio Sousa highlighted the founding matrix of the party “of Madeira, of Autonomy and of the entire working class”, to pull some of the main banners, such as the defense of the primary sector, of banana, sugar cane and grape producers and shepherds.
“We will not allow Albuquerque and the PSD to continue to make agriculture disappear and to have a policy of slavery for those who live off the land”, he assured, concluding: “We will not rest until farmers benefit from fair incomes and the necessary support”.
The emigrant community has not been forgotten either. Élvio Sousa expressed his “concern” about the situation in Venezuela, called for the release of political prisoners, appealed to the international community not to let the country fall into oblivion and left a word of hope for people of Portuguese descent.
Before concluding, he gave a portrait of Albuquerque’s legacy. Élvio Sousa noted that, after almost a decade in government, “it is becoming clear that the indelible mark of his governance is the protection of monopolies, cases of alleged corruption, a controlled, corrupt and subsidy-dependent economy, a dying autonomy and a region from which young people flee and older people only do not do so due to their age”.