"From the perspective of the Liberal Initiative, the situation is clear. We will not make any kind of agreement with Miguel Albuquerque [PSD's top candidate and current resigning president of the Regional Government]. The events of recent months show that it is absolutely impossible, at this time, with the ongoing legal proceedings, any kind of agreement on our part," said Rui Rocha, on the sidelines of a campaign action in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, within the scope of Sunday's regional elections. The national leader of the liberals landed on the island today to help appeal to the vote in the IL, for there to be "change" after 48 years of PSD governance in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. He entered the Mercado dos Lavradores and walked through the streets of downtown Funchal, alongside the IL's top candidate for Sunday's regional elections, Nuno Morna, and the number 1 on the list for the European elections of June 9 and former party president, João Cotrim Figueiredo. Right at the entrance to the market, Rui Rocha met "neighbors from the continent", a couple of tourists from Braga, his hometown. Then, accompanied by the campaign caravan, with just over a dozen people, with blue IL flags, he visited the stalls of the merchants, from flowers to fresh fish. Rui Rocha met again those he had already met in other campaigns, including the 86-year-old florist Isabel, dressed in traditional Madeiran costume, who has been selling flowers "for 71 years and seven months" and who can speak Finnish, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, in addition to Portuguese, languages she learned from contact with tourists, and who was awaiting his arrival: "if you didn't come, I wouldn't vote for you". "I've been doing the math and I've already spent more time in Madeira than at home with my wife," confided the national leader of the liberals, during the contact with the population, who received him with the wish of "much strength", but also from those who said they had "the vote destined for many years" or from those who revealed that they will vote for Chega. Regarding post-election agreements to form a government, the president of the IL indicated that "voting for Miguel Albuquerque is voting for Chega and voting for Chega is voting for Miguel Albuquerque", stating that the "vital forces" are beginning to give "very clear signs" of this understanding between the PSD and Chega. "People have to think about whether that's what they want or whether they really want a force for change, which is the Liberal Initiative," reinforced Rui Rocha, stressing that the IL/Madeira wants to change the governance of the region, namely in terms of taxes, health, education and transparency. Regarding whether these early elections will be an opportunity or a risk, considering that in September 2023 the IL won a deputy, entering the regional parliament for the first time, the national leader of the liberals highlighted the ambition to grow, but opting to "be reasonable" in the objectives defined, without giving more details. As for the possibility of the IL making Miguel Albuquerque's government program viable, regardless of whether there is an agreement, Rui Rocha assured his willingness to "analyze all proposals, be they concrete and specific proposals, government programs, or budgets", committing to the interests of the people of Madeira and anticipating a vote against if he considers them negative. 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 the CDU, IL, PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary incidence with the social democrats) and BE obtained one mandate each. Read Also: Education Agreement? "I hope that, at this point, schools find peace" (Portuguese version)