"Only a vote for the PS will allow us to turn the page, only a vote for the PS will allow change in the region. It is clear to everyone, there is no illusion, that voting for Chega, CDS, Iniciativa Liberal or PAN is voting for the PSD, it is voting for Miguel Albuquerque, this is clear for all to see", said Paulo Cafôfo, at a PS/Madeira rally, in the square next to the Madeira Legislative Assembly, in Funchal. Attended by the PS general secretary, Pedro Nuno Santos, the rally brought together around two hundred supporters and party members, raising white and red PS flags and also the Autonomous Region of Madeira, as well as leftovers from the gerberas distributed in the campaign action held this morning. "People need to understand that, if they do not want the PSD, if they do not want the PSD to govern in Madeira, they cannot vote for these parties, because voting for these parties is keeping everything the same. The difference will be made by us, it is the Socialist Party, with a vote that will mean turning the page in our region", he said, referring to the pre-electoral understanding between PSD, CDS and Chega. The regional socialist leader also thanked Pedro Nuno Santos for his "unconditional support" for PS/Madeira and considered that the PSD president and current prime minister, Luís Montenegro, "is ashamed of Miguel Albuquerque", current president of the Regional Government and candidate again, "and it is for this reason" that he is not going to the campaign. Luís Montenegro, he added, "has not set foot" in the region since the elections of September 24, 2023, when he thought that "the PSD would have a landslide victory, which it did not have", and from then on "instability was installed in Madeira, instability created by the PSD and amplified by the PSD itself". "Miguel Albuquerque is discredited and isolated - he is for the people of Madeira and Porto Santo, he is in his party at the regional level, he is in his party at the national level. And it must be said that, if Miguel Albuquerque continued as president of the government, which he will not continue, he does not have the negotiating capacity to, with the prime minister, defend Madeira and defend the people of Madeira, because nobody pays attention to him anymore", he criticized. Confident in the electoral result, Paulo Cafôfo also expressed "shame" for the 48 years of PSD governance in Madeira and recalled that, according to an official report released this week, the archipelago has the highest poverty risk rate in the country, criticizing Albuquerque for saying that "it is normal" and for being "resigned to the poverty of the people of Madeira". "We will have a Regional Government, for the first time, of the Socialist Party, a Regional Government that wants to and will govern for the people, with the right priorities and the appropriate solutions for the problems that have been dragging on for too long", he assured, presenting measures for housing, education, health, agriculture and fisheries, transport and mobility. At the end of the rally, Paulo Cafôfo (who in 2019 achieved the best result for PS/Madeira in the regional elections, with 19 deputies) received congratulations again, since he celebrates his 53rd birthday today, but this time, with cake and candles. Fourteen candidacies are competing in the early regional elections of May 26 for the 47 seats in the regional parliament: ADN, BE, PS, Livre, IL, RIR, CDU (PCP/PEV), Chega, CDS-PP, MPT, PSD, PAN, PTP and JPP. In 2023, the PSD/CDS coalition won without an absolute majority, with 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 BE each obtained a mandate. Read Also: Chega reaffirms that it will not make any agreement with PSD or PS in Madeira (Portuguese version)