For Roberto Almada, it is impossible for Madeira to have "one of the highest VAT rates in the country" when it is affected by insularity and, in the case of the island of Porto Santo, by double insularity.

The deputy added that the candidacy will focus, in this last week of the campaign, on direct contact with people, pointing out that one of the concerns conveyed is related to the "increase in the cost of living", which "also has to do with essential goods that people buy when they go to the supermarket, the electricity they pay for".

The Left Bloc member also referred to the fact that Madeira has "many thousands of poor people" and is "the region with the highest risk of poverty" in the country.

"And, therefore, the reduction of taxes, namely VAT on essential goods, is very important. Regarding electricity, it is impossible for us to continue paying electricity with 22% VAT. Electricity is an essential good, it must be at 5%, it must be at the minimum VAT rate", he defended.

Roberto Almada stressed that the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP) "never wanted to lower VAT", benefiting the poorest, a policy that, in his view, "is a hallmark of this government of Miguel Albuquerque".

"Miguel Albuquerque has always governed for the rich, never for those who are the poorest", he added.

The BE candidacy also appealed for an increase in the vote for this party.

In 2015, BE elected two deputies, but the party lost its parliamentary presence in 2019 and regained a seat in September 2023, marking the return of Roberto Almada, the former coordinator of this political force, heir to the UDP.

"It is necessary to take the vote to the polls, it is necessary to take the indignation to the vote, it is necessary to take more deputies from the Left Bloc to parliament so that we have more strength to force a different political alternative from the current one and to force certain proposals such as this one to lower taxes, to lower VAT, which will benefit many families, to be effectively approved", argued the candidate.

According to Roberto Almada, it is necessary for people to "understand the need to vote for the Left Bloc, which will continue to be in parliament that left that does not desert, that left that does not run away, that left that does not shut up or consent".

Fourteen candidacies are competing 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.

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 Albuquerque was indicted in an alleged corruption case.

In 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 BE each obtained one mandate.

Read Also: Madeira. MPT proposes reducing IRC for companies to give better salaries (Portuguese version)

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