Politics of Madeira

The politics of Madeira, Portugal, takes place in the framework of a semi-presidential representative democracy and of a pluriform multi-party system. The Representative of the Republic exercises some reserve powers on behalf of the President of the Portuguese Republic. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in the Legislative Assembly. All government's offices are headquartered in Funchal, Madeira's capital city.[1][2]

History

In the years immediately after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, a small clandestine far-right independence movement – the Madeira Archipelago Liberation Front – was created in response to the perceived communist threat in the country's central government and carried out several bomb attacks.[3]

The current Portuguese Constitution, in force since 25 April 1976, granted political and administrative autonomy to the Madeiran and the Azorian archipelagoes and turned the local government throughout the country democratically elected. The first election for the Regional Assembly were held in that year. Jaime Ornelas Camacho was the first President of the Regional Government.

Since the archipelago gained political autonomy from mainland Portugal in 1976, the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) has always been in power, winning 11 absolute majorities in a row over 43 years, and until recently it had always ruled most municipalities. From 1978 to 2015, Alberto João Jardim was the sole President of the Regional Government, winning a total of 9 elections. In 2015, former Mayor of Funchal Miguel Albuquerque succeeded him. In 2019, for the first time since 1976, the PSD lost its parliamentary majority and was forced into a governmental coalition with the right-wing Popular Party.[4]

Over the more than forty years of autonomy, a few Catholic priests stood out as some of the main political opposition figures against Alberto João Jardim's long-lasting rule, winning seats in parliament and municipalities for far-left (Communist Party and Popular Democratic Union) and centre-left parties (Socialist Party) and gathering disapproval from the Church local authorities.[5]

Legislative branch

Executive branch

Local government

Madeira is divided in 11 municípios (municipalities), with each of these being split into freguesias (civil parishes), which add up to a total of 54.

Municipalities

Municipality Population Mayor Party Chair of the Municipal Assembly Party Election
Calheta 10,867 Carlos Manuel Teles PPD/PSD Manuel Baeta de Castro PPD/PSD 2017
Câmara de Lobos 33,675 Pedro Coelho PPD/PSD Manuel Pedro Freitas PPD/PSD 2017
Funchal 104,024 Miguel Silva Gouveia PS Mário Rodrigues PPD/PSD 2017
Machico 19,981 Ricardo Franco PS João Bosco de Castro PS 2017
Ponta do Sol 8,593 Célia Pecegueiro PS Simão Santos PPD/PSD 2017
Porto Moniz 2,342 Emanuel Câmara PS Lino Conceilção PS 2017
Porto Santo 5,202 Idalino Vasconcelos PPD/PSD Fátima Silva PPD/PSD 2017
Ribeira Brava 12,435 Ricardo Nascimento independent Rita Abreu independent 2017
Santa Cruz 45,281 Filipe Sousa JPP Júlia Caré JPP 2017
Santana 6,711 Dinarte Fernandes CDS-PP Martinho Rodrigues CDS-PP 2017
São Vicente 5,143 José António Garcês independent Aires Santos independent 2017

Parishes

Parishes with more than 10,000 inhabitants

Parish Municipality Population Chair of the Council Party Chair of the Assembly Party Election
Santo António Funchal 27,437 Rui Santos PPD/PSD Gonçalo Jardim PS 2017
São Martinho Funchal 26,464 Duarte Caldeira PS Thomas Dellinger PS 2017
Caniço Santa Cruz 23,361 Milton Teixeira JPP Luís Gaspar JPP 2017
Câmara de Lobos Câmara de Lobos 17,978 Celso Bettencourt PPD/PSD Sónia Brazão PPD/PSD 2017
Santa Maria Maior Funchal 13,387 Guido Gomes PS Juvenal Rodrigues PS 2017
Machico Machico 11,249 Alberto Olim PS José Câmara PS 2017
Estreito de Câmara de Lobos Câmara de Lobos 10,263 Gabriel Pereira PPD/PSD Fernanda Caldeira PPD/PSD 2017

Political parties and leaders

Political party or alliance Constituent parties Previous result Candidate
Votes (%) Seats
Social Democratic 39.42 21 Miguel Albuquerque
Socialist 35.76 19 Paulo Cafôfo
Together for the People 5.76 3 Élvio Sousa
People's 5.47 3 Rui Barreto
Unitary Democratic Coalition Communist 1.80 1 Edgar Silva
The Greens
Left Bloc 1.74 Paulino Ascenção
People, Animals, Nature 1.46 João Henrique de Freitas
Retirees and Pensioneers 1.23 Rafael Macedo
React, Include, Recycle 1.22 Roberto Vieira
Labour 1.00 Raquel Coelho
Alliance 0.53 Joaquim Sousa
Liberal Initiative 0.53 Nuno Morna
Enough 0.43 Miguel Teixeira
Democratic Republican 0.42 Filipe Rebelo
Workers' Communist 0.42 Fernanda Calaça
Earth 0.35 Valter Rodrigues
Rise Up 0.19 Álvaro Araújo

See also

References

  1. "Madeira Government". Madeira Web. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  2. "Economic, social and territorial situation of Portugal" (PDF). European Parliament. pp. 3–4. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  3. "Conservative Madeirans Are Cool to the Revolutionary Politics of Mainland. Portugal". The New York Times. 20 November 1975. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  4. Ames, Paul (23 September 2019). "Portugal's Costa gets Madeira boost ahead of election". Politico.eu. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  5. Garcia, Javier (10 October 1996). "Madeira's rebel priests choose politics to beat inequality". El País. The Independent. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
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