"We have neglected agriculture in Madeira, even though agriculture is responsible for the humanized rural landscape, which is our main tourist asset", began José Manuel Rodrigues, in statements to journalists at the Mercado do Santo da Serra, in the municipality of Santa Cruz.

The Christian Democrat candidate, who toured the market, contacting locals and merchants, therefore said that it is necessary to "take better care of agriculture", so that the landscape -- "Madeira's golden goose" -- is maintained.

José Manuel Rodrigues considered that more support is needed for farmers and better payments in the banana, sugarcane and vineyard sectors.

On the other hand, taking into account the growth of tourism in the region, which has broken records and caused "saturation" in some areas, the CDS-PP proposes the creation of new attractions.

"This involves the recovery and rehabilitation of old regional roads, royal paths, viewpoints and levadas that are abandoned, in order to try to combat this saturation that already exists in some tourist spots in Madeira", he stressed.

Asked about the reason why the CDS did not do more as a partner of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), José Manuel Rodrigues replied that the sectors supervised by his party (Economy, Sea and Fisheries) "worked perfectly", rejecting to answer "for the sins and errors of the other regional secretariats of the PSD".

The also president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira stressed that it is "obvious to everyone that there has been economic growth", but "this did not correspond to a significant improvement in people's lives".

"There was a lack of social justice in the distribution of wealth that is generated annually in the region", he considered.

The legislative elections in Madeira are running 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, the Chega four, while the CDU, the IL, the PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary incidence with the Social Democrats) and the BE obtained one mandate each.

The agreement between the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats, signed after the 2019 elections (when the PSD lost its absolute majority for the first time) was broken in the current political crisis.

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