"The CDU is already focusing on a direct appeal to the vote," Edgar Silva stressed within the scope of an initiative of the electoral campaign for the early elections of May 26th, in the parish of Curral das Freiras, Câmara de Lobos, the municipality adjacent to the west of Funchal. The candidate added that the objective is also to convey two "fundamental ideas," namely, that "all votes count," regardless of the place where people exercise their right. "There is only one single constituency. In other words, all votes, anyone who wants to fight with the CDU, by casting their vote, wanting to give strength to the fight for social justice in this land, regardless of the municipality where they live, of the parish, all votes count to give more strength to the CDU," he stated. Edgar Silva argued that "all votes go to the same bag, all votes add up, each vote counts to give strength to the CDU," insisting that no vote is lost. "This idea that there is a single constituency, many people do not understand this," he stressed, pointing out that it is "the sum of all the votes that guarantees the election of deputies who can guarantee the rights" of the voting electors. The also regional coordinator of the PCP/Madeira, elected deputy to the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, also guaranteed that supporting the candidacy in the CDU is voting for those who fight for the interests of the population. "It is the vote that does not betray, nor deceive, once the vote is cast, that vote has the guarantee that, in any circumstance, it will always be to defend the rights of the workers, the interest of the people," he maintained. On the other hand, Edgar Silva said he was "certain that it will not be a crutch for other interests," since it is a "non-negotiable" vote and "that will not be transferred." The candidate recalled that there were "situations where there were votes that were cast, and once cast, as happened just now in the parliament [of Madeira], they served other interests, betraying those who cast that vote or the intentionality, the will of those who cast the vote." In the last regional elections, the PSD/CDS coalition was the most voted and elected 23 deputies out of a total of 47, but saw its absolute majority suspended by one deputy. To ensure a scenario of governability, it signed an agreement of parliamentary incidence with the PAN's elected representative, Mónica Freitas. "And there are situations where people felt betrayed and deceived by the vote they cast. There are situations in which the people felt deceived, people felt betrayed because the vote once attributed was transferred, they negotiated that vote," argued Edgar Silva. Edgar Silva concluded by assuring that the support for the CDU is "a vote that will not be transferred, it is a vote that does not betray, does not deceive. Once that vote is cast, it has the guarantee that it will always be unbreakably the vote of the people, the vote of those who are hungry and thirsty for justice." The Madeira legislative elections take 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 occur 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, the IL, the PAN (which signed an agreement of parliamentary incidence with the social democrats) and the BE obtained one mandate each. Read Also: Cafôfo says it is an "insult" for Albuquerque to find poverty in the region "normal" (Portuguese version)