"These statements by Miguel Albuquerque are, to me, an insult to the people of Madeira. It's mocking those who work, because most of these people who live in poverty are people who work, they are honest people who give everything they have and at the end of the month have so little", said the insular socialist leader to journalists during the regional political commission meeting, in Funchal.

Paulo Cafôfo was reacting to statements by the outgoing president of the Regional Government who said today that it is "normal" that the poverty risk rate in the autonomous region is 10 percentage points above the national average, being the highest in the country.

"It's normal because we are islands. Islands always have a higher risk", said the head of the Madeiran executive, and then reinforced: "In mainland territories, in terms of poverty risk, both the Italian islands and the Spanish islands always have an average above 10%".

Miguel Albuquerque, who was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a PSD campaign event for the early elections of 26 May in Madeira, in the municipality of Santa Cruz, reacted in this way to the report "Portugal, Balanço Social 2023", presented publicly today, which indicates that the risk of poverty in the country rose to 17% in 2023, which caused 60 thousand more people to be at risk of becoming poor, a reality that mainly affected women.

According to the data in the report, which includes some preliminary data from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (ICOR), from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), for 2023, the poverty risk rate increased by 0.6 percentage points between 2022 and 2023, going from 16.4% to 17%.

For the socialist leader, this data "should sadden everyone" and he asked "what has autonomy been for in these 48 years" in Madeira?

"This is the result of 48 years of PSD power", he stressed, adding that autonomy should have served for Madeira "not to fall behind the rest of the country in such an important matter as the quality and standard of living of the people of Madeira".

Cafôfo added that, for Miguel Albuquerque, the PSD's governance "has been a success" by pointing to records of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), "that is, of wealth when it has the highest inequality rate in the country", a situation that reveals "a redistribution problem".

"It is a case of asking where does the wealth of Madeira go or with whom does it stay? Because this is not normal. It cannot be normal to have this poverty, it cannot be normal to have so many people of Madeira on waiting lists for consultations and surgeries, it cannot be normal to have this poverty", he stressed.

Paulo Cafôfo pointed out that, while the Regional Government has "its coffers full", the people of Madeira find themselves with "empty pockets", when there has never been so much tax revenue in the region.

"But, for Miguel Albuquerque, this is all normal and everything is under control. Well, for us, it is not. We are not comfortable with this situation of the people of Madeira and that is why it is necessary to turn the page", he stressed.

The leader of the PS/Madeira, who is also the top candidate for the early regional elections on 26 May, highlighted that the party's secretary-general, Pedro Nuno Santos, will travel to the region on Saturday to "unconditionally" support the socialist project in this campaign.

For Cafôfo, this visit contrasts with the situation of the PSD, whose national leader, Luís Montenegro, is not going to Madeira "because he does not want to be associated with Miguel Albuquerque, he is ashamed", which reveals that the outgoing president "has fallen into disrepute within his own party".

Cafôfo also stated that he is convinced that there will be no absolute majority in the elections of 26 May and that the PS will form a government in this region.

Read Also: Madeira. Cafôfo says the choice is between him and Miguel Albuquerque (Portuguese version)