A delegation from the Portuguese Labour Party (PTP) today campaigned at the Madeira International Airport -- Cristiano Ronaldo, with some posters with phrases such as "Smile! You are being robbed!" or "Eye on the MAFIA!".

In statements to journalists, candidate Gil Canha, number two on the list headed by Raquel Coelho, stressed that "the PTP has shown that it is in fact a cat that hunts rats, hunts the rat race", unlike other parties, "namely Chega, who says it is against corruption and nothing is seen".

"When we have a property or a house that is infested with rats, we often acquire a cat to hunt the rats, sometimes we are unlucky and we acquire a living room cat and the living room cat is even afraid of rats", he said, reinforcing that the Madeiran population has already had proof that the PTP, when it was represented in the regional parliament, did "effective work to attack corruption, the rat race that robs the Madeiran people".

"And whoever says Chega, says the Socialist Party, the [Iniciativa] Liberal, these living room parties are parties that do not fight the rat race, they talk a lot but when it comes to fighting it, which requires a certain courage and a certain head-on in the defense of the interests of the Madeirans, these parties disappear", reinforced Gil Canha, appealing to the people not to vote for these political forces.

In 2011, the PTP reached three terms in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira and in 2015 it joined the Mudança coalition (PS/PTP/PAN/MPT), which disintegrated after the electoral act. The party was represented by a deputy, but did not manage to elect in the last two regional elections.

Sunday's legislative elections in Madeira will take place with 14 candidates competing for the 47 seats in the regional parliament, in a single electoral district: 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 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 accused 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 got 11, the JPP five, 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.

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