"We came to say, eye to eye, that the BE has been the voice that has most defended the residents of Porto Santo in parliament", said the BE's lead candidate for the early regional elections on 26 May.

Roberto Almada, who was the former coordinator of BE/Madeira and managed to return the party to parliament in the last regional elections on 24 September 2023, highlighted that the Bloco members have been "a voice" demanding improvements in maritime and air transport between the islands of the autonomous region.

According to the lead candidate, "the Regional Government must oblige the concessionaire to fulfil the concession contract and replace the boat [the Lobo Marinho] when it goes for maintenance" in January.

Roberto Almada pointed out that, despite the concession contract obliging the concessionaire, Porto Santo Line, to replace the boat when it goes for its annual maintenance, this has "never happened" and at that time "the people of Porto Santo are isolated and dependent on the plane".

He also demanded that the Government of the Republic guarantee a regular air link between the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo using TAP, which is the national flag carrier.

"We cannot continue to extend the contract with Binter indefinitely, without resolving the problem in a more definitive way", he stressed.

Another issue addressed was in the area of health, with the candidate recalling that for about 20 years the party has been defending the creation of a mini-hospital on that island, recalling that, at that time, they were classified as "crazy" and the proposal as "outrageous".

"Twenty years later, the Regional Government has come to agree with us", he pointed out, since the Madeiran executive (PSD/CDS) is planning to build a new local health unit.

Roberto Almada also criticised the project to increase the size of the golf course in Porto Santo, which "will use millions of cubic metres of water", emphasising that this is an island with little water and even has a desalination plant.

"I have nothing against the golf course, but the people of Porto Santo cannot be without water in their taps", he stressed.

The Madeira legislative elections are taking place with 14 candidacies competing for 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 are taking 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 named as 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 a parliamentary incidence agreement with the Social Democrats) and the BE each obtained one mandate.

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