"On behalf of Chega, there will be no approach or pact in a situation like this", he said, referring to the fact that the regional social democratic leader and resigning head of the PSD/CDS-PP executive, Miguel Albuquerque, is a defendant in a process that investigates suspicions of corruption in Madeira.

André Ventura was speaking at a campaign action for the early elections of May 26, which started today, in the parish of Santo da Serra, in the municipality of Santa Cruz, where he visited the local market accompanied by the Chega candidates.

"Miguel Albuquerque should never be a candidate in these elections. This has nothing to do with procedural statutes, it has to do with what is known, with what has been seen, with what has been heard", he said, criticizing the fact that the regional PSD has chosen to indicate him as the head of the list and that the national leader of the party, Luís Montenegro, has supported the decision.

Ventura considered that the option of the social democratic leaders was thus "very clear".

"Chega would be absolutely inconsistent if, after all this, it made any kind of agreement with this PSD and with Miguel Albuquerque", he declared, and then reinforced: "We do not agree with badly told stories, with serious suspicions about institutions and about people's money".

The leader of Chega, who on Monday will participate in another campaign initiative and will return to the region the week before the elections, admitted, however, that the party could consider a scenario of understanding with the social democrats "if the PSD were different and if the leadership were different".

"Miguel Albuquerque is isolated and on our part he will remain isolated, for a simple reason, is that this situation in Madeira has nothing to do with the situation in the Republic", he said, and then explained: "What is happening here is that there is a power that has been embedded in the institutions for too many years [...] and either a cut is made, or we will never be able to evolve".

"Now, Chega would not make that cut if it went to the Government with Dr. Miguel Albuquerque. We have to have values and principles and we do not give in on them", he reinforced.

André Ventura also said that Chega "does not want to contribute to ungovernability", but will not give in to corruption either.

"We really have to make a cut with the corruption that has undermined the institutions and much of our campaign will be to appeal to the people of Madeira, to the people of Porto Santo and, through them, to the entire country, of the importance of making this cut with corruption", he said, emphasizing that these elections are an opportunity to "start this change" and that, afterwards, the party will promote a "complete audit" of the last years of social democratic governance in the Legislative Assembly.

André Ventura also ruled out the possibility of understandings with the PS, the largest opposition party in Madeira.

"Alliance with the PS, neither in Madeira, nor in the Azores, nor on Mars, nor on Jupiter, nor anywhere in the world", he said.

The legislative elections of Madeira will take place with 14 candidacies to dispute the 47 seats in the regional parliament, in a single electoral district: 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 legislative 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 a defendant 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, 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.

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