Politics of Madeira

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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]

Contents

History

In the years immediately after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, a small clandestine far-right independence movement – the Madeira Archipelago Liberation Front (FLAMA) – 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

Regional elections since 1976

Parties are listed from left-wing to right-wing.

Summary of elections for the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, 1976–2024
Election UDP BE PCP PEV PS PTP PAN MPT JPP PSD CDS PSN PND IL CH O/ITurnout
1976 5.1
2		-1.8
0		-22.3
8		----59.6
29		9.5
2		----1.6
0		74.8
1980 [a] 5.5
2		- 3.1
1		-15.0
5		----65.3
35		6.5
1		----4.6
0		80.9
1984 [b] 5.5
2		- 2.7
1		15.3
6		----67.7
40		6.1
1		----2.6
0		71.4
1988 [c] 7.7
3		- 2.0
0		16.8
7		----62.4
41		8.2
2		----2.9
0		67.6
1992 4.6
2		- 3.0
1		22.5
12		----56.9
39		8.1
2		2.4
1		---2.5
0		66.5
1996 4.0
1		- 4.0
2		24.8
13		----56.9
41		7.3
2		0.6
0		---2.3
0		65.3
2000 4.8
2		- 4.6
2		21.0
13		----56.0
41		9.7
3		1.7
0		---2.1
0		61.9
2004 -3.7
1		 5.5
2		27.4
19		----53.7
44		7.0
2		----2.7
0		60.5
2007 -3.0
1		 5.4
2		15.4
7		--2.3
1		-64.2
33		5.3
2		-2.1
1		--2.2
0		60.8
2011 -1.7
0		 3.8
1		11.5
6		6.9
3		2.1
1		1.9
1		-48.6
25		17.6
9		-3.3
1		--2.6
0		57.4
2015 -3.8
2		 5.5
2		11.4
6		10.3
5		44.4
24		13.7
7		-2.1
1		--8.8
0		49.6
2019 -1.7
0		 1.8
1		35.8
19		1.0
0		1.5
0		0.4
0		5.5
3		39.4
21		5.8
3		--0.5
0		0.4
0		6.3
0		55.5
2023 [d] -2.2
1		 2.7
1		21.3
11		1.0
0		2.3
1		0.5
0		11.0
5		 43.1
23		--2.6
1		8.9
4		4.3
0		53.3
2024 -1.4
0		 1.6
0		21.3
11		0.9
0		1.9
1		0.4
0		16.9
9		36.1
19		4.0
2		--2.6
1		9.2
4		3.7
0		53.4
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Opinion polling

This section is an excerpt from 2025 Madeiran regional election § Polling.[ edit ]
Polling firm/LinkFieldwork dateSample sizeTurnout PSD Logo Simples.png Cds simbolo 2.png Letras PS (Portugal).png
Logo Juntos pelo Povo.png
Logo Chega!.svg Iniciativa Liberal Icon.png Logo Pessoas-Animais-Natureza (text only).png Simbolo CDU (PCP-PEV) (Letras).png LeftBloc.svg Partido Trabalhista Portugues.png OLead
Intercampus [e] 29 Nov–7 Dec 2024803?38.7
20		4.3
2		21.2
11		15.2
7		7.1
3		4.3
2		2.1
1		—2.2
1		1.7
0		3.3
0		17.5
Aximage [f] 30 Nov–6 Dec 2024458?37.4
19		3.2
1		19.2
10		18.3
9		11.3
5		4.0
2		2.6
1		———3.9
0		18.2
2024 EP election 9 Jun 2024—41.642.7
(23)		26.0
(14)		—9.1
(4)		5.4
(2)		1.9
(1)		1.9
(1)		2.9
(1)		1.6
(0)		8.5
(1)		16.7
2024 regional election 26 May 2024—53.436.1
19		4.0
2		21.3
11		16.9
9		9.2
4		2.6
1		1.9
1		1.6
0		1.4
0		0.9
0		4.1
0		14.8

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

MunicipalityPopulationMayor [6] PartyChair of the Municipal
Assembly [7] 		PartyElection
Calheta 10,867Carlos Manuel Teles PSD Manuel Baeta de Castro PSD 2021
Câmara de Lobos 33,675Pedro Coelho PSD Manuel Pedro Freitas PSD 2021
Funchal 104,024 Pedro Calado (2021–2024)
Cristina Pedra (2024–)
 PSD.CDS–PP José Luís Nunes PSD.CDS–PP 2021
Machico 19,981Ricardo Franco PS João Bosco de Castro PS 2021
Ponta do Sol 8,593 Célia Pecegueiro PS Carlos Manuel Coelho PS 2021
Porto Moniz 2,342 Emanuel Câmara PS José Carlos Conceição PS 2021
Porto Santo 5,202Nuno Batista PSD Fátima Silva PSD 2021
Ribeira Brava 12,435Ricardo Nascimento Independent Rita Abreu Independent 2021
Santa Cruz 45,281Filipe Sousa JPP Maria Júlia Caré JPP 2021
Santana 6,711Dinarte Fernandes CDS–PP Martinho Rodrigues CDS–PP 2021
São Vicente 5,143José António Garcês PSD.CDS–PP Aires Santos PSD.CDS–PP 2021

Parishes

Parishes with more than 10,000 inhabitants

ParishMunicipalityPop.Chair of the
Council
Assembly [7] 		PartyChair of the
Assembly [7] 		PartyElection
Santo António Funchal 27,437Ilídio de Castro PSD.CDS–PP Rui Santos PSD.CDS–PP 2021
São Martinho Funchal 26,464Marco Gonçalves PSD.CDS–PP João Pimenta PSD.CDS–PP 2021
Caniço Santa Cruz 23,361Milton TeixeiraJPPLuís GasparJPP 2021
Câmara de Lobos Câmara de Lobos 17,978Celso Bettencourt PSD Sónia Brazão PSD 2021
Santa Maria Maior Funchal 13,387Guido Gomes PS Juvenal Rodrigues PS 2021
Machico Machico 11,249Alberto Olim PS Alexandra Franco PS 2021
Estreito de Câmara de Lobos Câmara de Lobos 10,263Gabriel Pereira PSD José Abreu PSD 2021

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In the 1980 election, the Communist Party (PCP) and the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP) ran in a joint coalition called United People Alliance (APU).
  2. ↑ In the 1984 election, the Communist Party (PCP), Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP) and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (PEV) ran in a joint coalition called United People Alliance (APU).
  3. ↑ After the 1988 elections, and still today, the Communist Party (PCP) and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (PEV) run in a joint coalition called Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU).
  4. ↑ The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS–PP) contested the 2023 election in a coalition called We are Madeira (SM) and won a combined 43.1% of the vote and elected 23 MP's to the regional assembly.
  5. ↑ Results presented here exclude undecideds (17.9%) and those who would not vote (9.6%). With their inclusion results are: PSD: 28.0%; PS: 15.3%; JPP: 11.0%; CHEGA 5.1%; IL: 3.1%; CDS-PP: 3.1%; BE: 1.6%; PAN: 1.5%; PTP: 1.2%; Others/Invalid: 2.4%
  6. ↑ Results presented here exclude undecideds (15.6%). With their inclusion results are: PSD: 31.5%; PS: 16.2%; JPP: 15.4%; CHEGA 9.5%; IL: 3.4%; CDS-PP: 2.7%; PAN: 2.2%; Others/Invalid: 3.3%

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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.
  6. ↑ "Autárquicas 2021 - Candidatos". Ministry of Internal Administration (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  7. 1 2 3 "Autárquicas 2021 - Mapa Resultados" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-01-18.
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