"No, I think it has benefited in a certain way. First because I haven't used any means, and secondly because the complaints from the opposition are 48 years old, they're already covered in cobwebs, they're always the same," said Miguel Albuquerque, when questioned by journalists. "For 48 years they have been saying the same thing," reinforced the outgoing president of the Regional Government, who is a defendant in a corruption case and is running again in the early regional elections on 26 May. On the sixth day of the campaign, Miguel Albuquerque went to a sports pavilion in the parish of Caniço, in the municipality of Santa Cruz, accompanied by a small entourage, but without flags or any campaign material. The social democrat entered the pavilion as a candidate, where he watched the sports activities that were taking place, and then, in statements to journalists, made a commitment to build a new sports pavilion in the parish if he is re-elected. "We believe that it is essential to make a commitment to build a multi-purpose pavilion here in the parish of Caniço, in order to serve both the clubs and the young population, and to increase the number of sports and practitioners," he stressed. The new infrastructure will cost around 13 million euros, estimated Miguel Albuquerque, stating "that it will be equipped with multifunctional characteristics for the practice of various sports and in line with the interests of the clubs, associations and schools." The Madeira legislative elections will take place on 26 May, 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 that began in January, when the leader of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, was charged in a case 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 obtained one mandate. The PSD has always governed in the archipelago and won with an absolute majority in 11 elections between 1976 and 2015. In 2019, it lost its absolute majority for the first time, having signed a governing agreement with the CDS, and in 2023 it went to the polls already in coalition with the centrists. In these early elections, the two parties will vote separately. Read Also: Cafôfo says it is an "insult" for Albuquerque to find poverty in the region "normal" (Portuguese version)