"It is necessary to see if the PS has the political maturity to negotiate and talk to other parties, namely with the PAN, with which it insists it wants to close the doors. Let's see if on the 26th [of May] it will not need the small parties as it has previously needed to obtain local authorities [as was the case of Funchal, in the 2013 local elections]", said Mónica Freitas, in a campaign action in Câmara de Lobos.

On this 10th day of the campaign for Sunday's regional elections, the People-Animals-Nature (PAN) caravan was in the bay of Câmara de Lobos, where the candidate heard from young workers in the restaurant industry and received concerns about support for the elderly and animals, as well as the denunciation of the use of dogs for begging by homeless people and people with drug addiction problems.

"You don't need to protect the black scabbardfish, I need it dead", warned an employee of one of the restaurants in the area, after sharing with the PAN entourage the health problem of one of her cats, explaining that "its paws have not developed".

With a group of eight people, with white flags with the party's symbol printed in green, the PAN caravan also registered complaints about the difficulty of access to housing for young people.

Distributing campaign leaflets with the title "Force of Nature", pens made of recycled material and cloth bags, the PAN's top candidate also approached two groups of men who were playing cards, offering them a new deck with the PAN symbol: "Playing with these cards brings more luck".

Asked about the appeal of the PS's top candidate, Paulo Cafôfo, for a useful vote, stating that "voting for Chega, CDS, Iniciativa Liberal or PAN is to vote for the PSD", Mónica Freitas considered that "this is simply being anti-democratic and disrespecting the work of a group of political forces that are completely different from each other".

"You cannot put the PAN in the same bag as the right-wing parties [...] as is the case of the CDS and Chega, much less when the PAN defends everything that Chega does not defend and we are in no way similar", she stressed.

Speaking to the Lusa agency, the PAN's top candidate, who is the only deputy of her party and signed a parliamentary incidence agreement with the social democrats, enabling the PSD/CDS-PP Regional Government, highlighted the capacity for dialogue and negotiation in favor of the region.

"Even with a party like the PSD, with which the PAN has several issues on which we disagree, but we manage to talk, dialogue and negotiate. I don't know if the PS has this political maturity to do so with other parties and a party that wants to be a Regional Government, and that wants to reach the power of governance at all costs, is difficult when it then closes the door to most of the parties that currently have parliamentary representation", she warned.

Assuring that the PAN will not be a factor of instability in Madeira, the top candidate reiterated that she will not make a parliamentary incidence agreement with the PSD again: "If the PSD is again the party that the population legitimizes to be the government, the PAN will analyze a budget and a government program, but will not make an agreement again".

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.

In 2023, the PSD/CDS coalition won without an absolute majority, with 23 deputies. The PS obtained 11, the JPP five, Chega four, while CDU, IL, PAN (which signed a parliamentary incidence agreement with the social democrats) and BE obtained one mandate each.

Read Also: Elections/Madeira. PAN wants more inspection and support in animal protection (Portuguese version)