"According to the first projections we have just seen, JPP is indeed the party that has grown the most, it will be the revelation of this electoral act", said Miguel Ganança, in statements to journalists.

The candidate spoke after the projection of the Catholic University for RTP was released, according to which PSD wins the regional elections in Madeira today, with 33% to 38% of the votes, missing the absolute majority.

With this result, PSD gets between 16 and 21 seats, when 24 are needed to guarantee the absolute majority in parliament, which has a total of 47 seats.

In the projection released at 7 pm, PS gets between 11 and 14 deputies (21% to 25%), JPP between seven and 10 (16% to 19%), Chega between three and five (8% to 11%) and CDS-PP between one and two (2% to 5%).

Asked about whether he is available to make agreements on the left, the JPP candidate, who holds the seventh place on the list, said that the party will wait "calmly and responsibly for the final results", stressing that its coalition "is with the people of Madeira and Porto Santo".

Miguel Ganança recalled that the secretary-general of JPP, Élvio Sousa, has put "a series of important requirements on the table in recent weeks to improve the quality of life of the people of Madeira", to which, so far, "no [party] has responded".

"First we need to have final results, one or two deputies can make a difference, and we will not assume commitments that may not be validated, taking into account the number of deputies that may exist in the different political forces", he reinforced.

"We are responsible, calm, we do not want to go to power, we do not want to make a coalition just for the sake of it, we will have responsibility and serenity and then present a valid and good answer for all of us in the end", he insisted.

Regarding a coalition on the right, Miguel Ganança stressed that the party's secretary-general and head of the list, Élvio Sousa, has already "been clear in his reaction to PSD".

During the electoral campaign, Élvio Sousa rejected agreements with PSD and its head of the list, the outgoing president of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque.

The early regional legislative elections in Madeira took place today, in a scrutiny in which more than 254 thousand voters were called to vote, to choose a new parliament and a new government.

Fourteen candidacies disputed the 47 seats in the regional parliament, in a single electoral circle: ADN, BE, PS, Livre, IL, RIR, CDU (PCP/PEV), Chega, CDS-PP, MPT, PSD, PAN, PTP and JPP.

Today's early elections took place eight months after the most recent regional elections, after the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, dissolved the Madeiran parliament, following the political crisis triggered in January, when the leader of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, was made an arguido in a process in which suspicions of corruption are being investigated.

In the last legislature, the Legislative Assembly of Madeira had 20 representatives from PSD, three from CDS-PP, 11 from PS, five from JPP and four from Chega. CDU, BE, PAN and IL each held one seat.

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