"I decided to ask Doctor Miguel Albuquerque to come to the palace at 4:30 pm to appoint him as president of the Regional Government", declared Ireneu Barreto to journalists, at the São Lourenço Palace, in Funchal.

The PSD won Sunday's regional elections with the election of 23 deputies, failing to obtain an absolute majority by one, but this week signed an agreement on parliamentary and governmental influence with the CDS-PP, which obtained a seat in the Legislative Assembly.

Miguel Albuquerque, who has led the executive since 2015, was named a defendant in a case investigating suspicions of corruption in early 2024. He resigned and was reelected in May in early elections, but his minority executive fell with the approval of a motion of censure in December.

After hearing the six parties today that elected deputies in Sunday's elections – PSD, JPP, PS, Chega, CDS-PP and IL –, the representative of the Republic indicated that “everyone was unanimous that it should be the PSD that forms the government”.

“I hope this government lasts the duration of a legislature, which is, in fact, a little more than four years, until September 2029”, said Ireneu Barreto, adding that this is his wish.

“I tell you, in all honesty, that I hope that the conditions are in place for this to happen and I hope that this happens, because the region really needs stability,” he reinforced.

Regarding the possibility of setbacks arising for the new executive, mainly resulting from ongoing legal proceedings, the representative of the Republic said that “the future belongs to God”, so that he cannot, for now, consider a scenario that he does not master.

“Justice is what belongs to justice, politics is what belongs to politics,” he stressed, adding: “There is a lot of justice and there are many situations of justice. What I ask is that we do not rush into things. Let us wait calmly, with the serenity that the people of Madeira demand of us, so that the government can govern.”

Ireneu Barreto highlighted that it is not possible to predict “incidents along the way”.

Today, in the hearings with the representative of the Republic, the PSD and the CDS-PP indicated that the conditions for the formation of a stable government are met, considering the agreement on parliamentary and governmental influence that the parties signed on Tuesday.

The agreement ensures a parliamentary majority in the region and includes the integration of the leader of the archipelago's Christian Democrats, José Manuel Rodrigues, into the executive.

The vote took place 10 months after the previous one, following the approval of a motion of censure presented by Chega, which justified it with the judicial investigations involving members of the Regional Government, including the president, Miguel Albuquerque (PSD), and the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly by the President of the Republic.

The previous regional elections were held on 26 May, 2024, and the PSD managed to elect 19 deputies, the PS 11, the JPP nine, the Chega four (one deputy became independent, however) and the CDS-PP two. PAN and IL secured one seat each.

At the time, the PSD reached a parliamentary influence agreement with the CDS-PP, which was still insufficient for an absolute majority. The Social Democrats also reached a parliamentary influence agreement with the PAN after the regional elections in September 2023.