For the 14th consecutive time, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) won the regional legislative elections in Madeira, which were called after the fall of the government led by Miguel Albuquerque, who was indicted in an investigation into alleged corruption cases on the island in January of this year. The Social Democrats won 19 seats in the regional parliament (36.13%, 49,103 votes), while the Socialist Party (PS) won 11 seats (21.32%, 28,981 votes). Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP) - which former regional government president Alberto João Jardim considered to be the "big winner" of the night - won nine seats (16.89%, 22,958 votes). The party led by Élvio Sousa was, in fact, one of the surprises of the night, managing, for example, to win in the municipality of Santa Cruz for the first time. Compared to the last regional elections in September of last year, the JPP increased its presence in parliament from five to nine deputies. The party's secretary-general postponed talks until Monday morning.

"At five in the morning, if you have the opportunity, or at six, you can call me because I'll already be up, I'm going to observe the stars tonight", he joked.

Chega, on the other hand, kept the four seats it had already won in the last elections (9.23% 12,541 votes), CDS-PP won two seats (3.96%, 5,384 votes) and IL (2.56%, 3,482 votes) and PAN (1.86%, 2,531 votes) won one seat each. These results meant that neither the CDU (1.63%, 2,217 votes) nor the Left Bloc (BE) (1.41%, 1,912 votes) managed to elect regional deputies in these elections, unlike what had happened in September 2023. A reality that, for the secretary-general of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), "will weigh more negatively on political life" in the region. The main CDU candidate on the island, Edgar Silva, confessed that leaving parliament is "very unfavorable", but promised to continue "the fight".

The tone is similar in the voice of the Left Bloc (BE) list leader in the region, Roberto Almada, who assured that, while it is true that"the BE will not be in parliament", it is also true that "it will be in the streets with the people every day".

In the aftermath of the elections, the party's national coordinator, Mariana Mortágua, admitted the "bad result", regretting that "it is the first time in the regional parliament [of Madeira] that the parties to the left of the PS have no parliamentary representation whatsoever".

Time to talk

Quickly, once the conclusions of the vote were known, political leaders began to react to them and to open the doors to possible dialogues with a view to forming a government, since no structure managed to achieve the much-desired absolute majority. To do so, it was necessary to win 24 seats, a bar that the PSD has not reached since 2015.

Miguel Albuquerque has already said he is available to dialogue with "all parties", considering it "essential" that there be a government "with stability, that approves the Budget and the Government program by July". Of course, the PS, "obviously", "is not a solution"

Jorge Carvalho, a member of the party's Regional Council, considered that the PSD was the "big winner" of the night. The party's national leader, Luís Montenegro, said that "the people of Madeira chose clearly, and within eight months, the same political force to lead the Regional Government and the same candidate". He also accused Chega and PS of "failing miserably".

The regional leader of the PS in Madeira, Paulo Cafôfo, signaled a possible "change of government in the Autonomous Region of Madeira", because "the PS and the JPP together elect more deputies than the PSD [20, still without reaching the absolute majority]". 

The socialist secretary-general himself, Pedro Nuno Santos -