"Therefore, and regarding this ferry connection, Chega has already submitted a draft resolution to the Assembly of the Republic, through our regional deputy elected in March and through our parliamentary group, which has already been submitted to the committee, in which we demand the resumption of the ferry line", said the head of the list, Miguel Castro, also the party leader in the region. The candidate was speaking to journalists during a campaign action at the port of Funchal, where he explained that the draft resolution is based on the principle of cohesion and territorial continuity, so the State should finance 100% of the resumption of the maritime connection, which was operational for the first time between 2008 and 2012. "Chega, in turn, once again denounces that there are really sprawling networks in Madeira, which have power over the political exercise in the region, and what we are doing will be everything to make all these operations more transparent, less corrupt and that these operations are not carried out either in the corridors of power, nor behind smoke screens, but that they are carried out in front of all Madeirans and Porto-Santans", he declared. Miguel Castro said that the previous ferry connection "collided with vested interests in the Autonomous Region of Madeira", stressing that the maritime operation in the archipelago is carried out only by one operator, which holds a monopoly on maritime cargo transport, in a reference to Grupo Sousa. "Chega, at this moment, is the only party that is in a position to fulfil this promise, so if the PS or the PSD wanted to make this commitment to the Madeirans as well and vote in favour of the proposal [in the Assembly of the Republic]", he said, recalling that those parties have representatives in parliament elected by the Madeira constituency, namely three social democrats and two socialists. "It will be through this draft resolution that we will see how the parties that have representatives from Madeira will vote [...], whether they will vote in favour or against this project that Chega will present", he warned. The candidate, also the leader of the parliamentary group in the Regional Legislative Assembly, where the party has four deputies, stressed that "the Madeirans and Porto-Santans deserve this [maritime] connection", but acknowledges that, on the part of the PSD and the PS, "failure is a possibility". "But, obviously, the PS and the PSD will have to justify why they failed", he warned. The Madeira legislative elections are taking place 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 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 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, IL, PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary incidence with the social democrats) and the BE each won one seat. Read Also: Does Madeira have the highest poverty risk rate in the country? "Normal" (Portuguese version)