"Madeira has had great economic growth in recent years, but this has not been reflected in the social reality. The social reality of Madeira is not good", said José Manuel Rodrigues in statements to the Lusa agency on the first day of the electoral campaign, in an initiative that took place at the Igreja da Boa Nova, in Funchal.

The centrists were contacting the population after mass, "clarifying people" about their proposals and defending that voting for CDS-PP "is a safe vote", he said.

The head of the list stressed that, given the reality of poverty in Madeira and salaries below the national average, the CDS-PP presents as two "great proposals" the increase in income and, on the other hand, the reduction of taxes.

"We have to raise salaries in accordance with the social partners and negotiate in social concertation for the national average, but we also have to act on the tax side", he stressed.

The party proposes the application of the 30% tax differential in relation to the mainland, provided for in the Regional Finance Law, in all IRS and VAT brackets. Currently, this differential is only applied in the first four IRS brackets.

In the case of VAT, indicated José Manuel Rodrigues, the centrists propose in their electoral program that it be gradually reduced until the end of the legislature, making up the 30% reduction.

"Madeira has had record tax revenues, never has so much tax revenue been collected as now, this is due to economic growth. So it is also time for the [Regional] Government to return income to families and citizens", said the centrist, who has held the position of President of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira since October 15, 2019.

"Also because we are going through a very difficult period, in which there is an impoverishment of the middle class and this is mainly due to the inflation that we have faced so far, to the rise in interest rates, which naturally takes income from families and many of them are fiscally suffocated", he reinforced.

The Madeira legislative elections will take place on May 26, with 14 candidacies competing for the 47 seats in the regional parliament, in a single electoral constituency: ADN, BE, PS, Livre, IL, RIR, CDU (PCP/PEV), Chega, CDS-PP, MPT, PSD, PAN, PTP and JPP.

The early elections take place eight months after the most recent regional elections, after the President of the Republic dissolved the Madeiran parliament, following the political crisis triggered in January, when the leader of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, was constituted an arguido in a process in which suspicions of corruption are being investigated.

In September 2023, the PSD/CDS coalition won without an absolute majority and elected 23 deputies. The PS won 11, the JPP five, the Chega four, while the CDU, the IL, the PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary incidence with the social democrats) and the BE obtained one mandate each.

Read Also: Madeira. Cafôfo considers that these are the "most challenging" elections (Portuguese version)