"The CDU, in this final phase of the campaign, is above all committed, we are committed to a central idea which is the need to elect useful deputies," the candidate told the Lusa agency in the Nazaré neighborhood, in Funchal.

Edgar Silva was speaking within the scope of the closing rally of the early regional electoral campaign, in the traditional space he chooses on these occasions, next to the bar "Nazareno", in Madeira's largest social neighborhood, where a few dozen people gathered, especially supporters of the candidacy who are present in almost all initiatives.

With some flags and in the background with Zeca Afonso's music "Grândola, Vila Morena", broadcast by the campaign car, Edgar Silva considered that "in the parliament [of Madeira] there are deputies in abundance who are above all there to serve the great landlords of this land".

"In parliament, there are deputies in abundance who are subservient to the masters of this land," he added.

For the candidate, at this moment "what is needed are deputies who are useful to the people" and who can be "in fact the fighters for the rights of those who work, to be the voice of the people's just demands".

Edgar Silva insisted that it is this type of parliamentarian that is necessary to "give voice to demands, to demands for social justice and to proposals that combat great inequalities".

For the also regional coordinator of the CDU, this political force is the only one that "gives this guarantee, of an unbreakable commitment in defending those who are the most disadvantaged, in giving voice to all those who are hungry and thirsty for justice in this land".

"So, it is this voice that not only needs to be guaranteed, but reinforced in parliament. This need to elect useful deputies is what is needed and it is in this sense that we are insisting a lot," stressed the also elected deputy.

On the possibility of supporting an alternative on the left in the Legislative Assembly of Madeira after Sunday's elections, he replied: "there are only deputies once elected and there are only deputies with votes".

He concluded that the candidacy is mobilized to "get each vote in the CDU, to elect useful deputies", emphasizing that "without votes there are no deputies".

In the various speeches at the rally, the candidates stressed that this was "a difficult campaign", that "the CDU is well known to the residents of the Nazaré neighborhood" because it is not in the fight for demands only at the time of electoral campaigns.

"The force of reason is in seventh position," was heard at the rally, highlighting which square the cross should be placed on the ballot paper, in addition to the fact that "every vote counts", because Madeira is a single constituency.

The Madeira legislative elections take place with 14 candidates 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, Chega four, while the CDU, IL, PAN (which signed an agreement on parliamentary incidence with the social democrats) and the BE obtained one mandate each.

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