13:23
President Portugal dissolves the Madeira parliament and calls polls
The President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has dissolved the Legislative Assembly of the island of Madeira, due to an investigation into a corruption scandal that has caused the crisis of the regional government, and has called early elections for next May 26th. The decision was adopted after “the favorable opinion, with a majority of votes, for the dissolution” issued by the Council of State and after discussions held by Rebelo de Sousa with the parties.
The dissolution decree signed by the president was “immediately endorsed by the acting prime minister” Antonio Costa, indicates a statement from the Portuguese presidency. In January an investigation into alleged corruption in irregular procurement led to the fall of the centre-right regional government, the resignation of governor Miguel Albuquerque, who was under investigation, and the arrest of Pedro Calado, former mayor of the capital Funchal, together with two important local entrepreneurs , Avelino Farinha and Custo’dio Correia, later released.
The case had struck national public opinion not only for the political crisis in the archipelago, a region with autonomous status, but for the way in which the investigation had been conducted, as the Lisbon investigators had not used the forces of local police, but they had sent judicial police officers from the capital. However, Albuquerque had not dissolved the regional legislative assembly, elected last September, because by law he could not call elections in the first semester of his mandate.
In recent days, all the parties consulted by the president of the republic have called for early elections, with the exception of the conservative Social Democratic Party (PSD), which has led the government of the archipelago since 2015, and the Christian Democrat CDS, both in the regional executive.
Ukraine, Kharkiv after the latest Russian bombs: gutted buildings and lots of desperation