Following the elections for the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira on Sunday, the Socialist Party (PS) and Together for the People (JPP) prepared to offer a government solution for the region, after the Social Democratic Party (PSD) - which has governed the island for 48 years - won the elections, but without an absolute majority.

"Following the results of the elections for the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, and with the aim of promoting a stable but also responsible government solution, the PS and JPP have reached a joint agreement", announced the leader of PS/Madeira, Paulo Cafôfo, in statements to journalists on Monday.

The general secretary of the JPP, Élvio Sousa, in turn, had already said that he was preparing "stability scenarios" for the executive. Together, the two parties have 20 seats in the regional parliament, still far from the 24 seats needed for an absolute majority, but closer than the PSD, which won 19 seats.

The social democrats, through their national leader, Luís Montenegro, reacted promptly to the news, accusing the PS and JPP of being more concerned with 'tinkering' than with opposing. "As long as we win elections, we will govern: We, the winners of the elections, are focused on governing, the losers of the elections are focused on tinkering", criticized Montenegro, accusing the losers in these elections of having "an arrogant and haughty attitude".

However, the leader of the PSD and Prime Minister of the country did not go unanswered. The general secretary of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos, entered the game and responded to the letter, predicting: "I do not interfere in what are the conversations that are held at the regional level. It is very important that from the outset a Prime Minister does not deceive the Portuguese about what the Constitution says".

In an Assembly of the Republic or in a Regional Legislative Assembly - unlike what happens "in a local authority", where "whoever has the most votes" - are elected "representatives of the people and the different representatives of the population find a government solution", defended Pedro Nuno Santos, on the sidelines of the first day of the campaign for the European Elections, in Almada.

The 'noise' was also joined by the leader of the Liberal Initiative (IL), Rui Rocha, defining the PS's government proposal with the JPP as "staging and theatrical moments that have no possibility of bringing anything new to the political landscape". "They could have also invited the BE and the PCP because the result would be exactly the same", he joked, since neither the Blocists nor the Communists managed to elect deputies to the Madeiran Regional Assembly.

Representative of the Republic receives parties

Following the elections in Madeira, which did not result in any obvious formation of a new government, the Representative of the Republic in the region, Ireneu Barreto, will hear from the elected parties, this Tuesday. At 10:00 am, the round of meetings begins with the re-elected deputy of the People-Animals-Nature (PAN), Mónica Feitas, who was instrumental in the formation of the regional government in September last year.

Afterwards, Ireneu Barreto has meetings scheduled with the IL, which kept deputy Nuno Morna in the regional parliament, and the CDS-PP, which elected two deputies, including leader José Manuel Rodrigues.

From 2:00 pm, it will be the turn of Chega, which saw its parliamentary group in Madeira remain the same size, with four deputies. This will be followed by the JPP, which increased its presence in the hemicycle from five to nine parliamentarians.

At 4:00 pm, it will be the turn of the PS, the second most voted party in Sunday's elections, winning 11 seats in the hemicycle. Then, finally, the PSD will meet with Ireneu Barreto.

According to the results released by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration, the PSD won the elections with 49,103 votes (36.13%), winning 19 seats. They are followed by the PS, with 11 deputies, the JPP, with nine, Chega, with four, the CDS-PP, with two, and the IL and PAN, with one deputy each.

Read Also: Madeira? Pedro Nuno asks Montenegro not to "deceive the Portuguese" (Portuguese version)