Suspected of eight crimes, Albuquerque cites “alteration of circumstances”
Acting regional governor of Madeira Miguel Albuquerque is ‘fighting back’. Notwithstanding the suspicions hanging over him in the corruption probe that brought down his government, forcing him to resign, the PSD veteran has decided to ‘re-candidate himself’ as the leader of the party, and drop his ‘coalition partners’, CDS-PP, with whom he won last year’s regional elections.
The masterplan appears to be to be ‘ready’ to fight ‘early elections’ if this is the way President Marcelo decides to deal with the archipelago’s developing dramas.
First part of the plan is to recover his leadership of the regional party (hence his re-candidacy in internal elections set for March 21).
Second part will either be to ‘lead the archipelago’ into new elections (if this is the President’s decision), or simply return to leading the regional government of Madeira, once more taking the title “Regional governor”.
To confuse the issue even further, as reports have explained: Mr Albuquerque announced all this today “during a visit to a local school, where he went in his capacity as president of the regional government (PSD/CDS-PP), from which he resigned following the investigation into suspected corruption in the archipelago, which led to the fall of the executive, now in management mode”.
If readers’ heads are spinning, this all boils down to the ‘fiasco’ of the corruption investigation at the bail hearings’ phase.
The three men arrested, and held in police cells for three weeks, were all released by a judge who admittedly had nothing to do with the investigation, but who was tasked with reading through all the evidence.
Judge Jorge Bernardes de Melo said he could see no evidence of any corruption.
Since then, a lot of water has pounded under the bridge: judges are trying to change rules so that governments cannot keep falling on the strength of suspicions that are then ‘doubted’ at the bail hearings’ stage; politicians of various colours have called for the dismissal of the Attorney General (on the basis that she is signing off on cases that do not hold water) – and criticism of public prosecutors has been riding high.
All of this has spurred Miguel Albuquerque to believing he still has political mileage in the tank – hence today’s announcement.
Definitely miffed are the CDS-PP, whose leader Rui Barreto has talked about “the recision of a contract without just cause”, arguing that his party has been “a factor of stability, competence and responsibility” in the government of Madeira.
Mr Albuquerque however has dismissed these lamentations, describing the complaint about a recision of contract as “a metaphor”. In Albuquerque’s eyes, “circumstances have changed”, and it is now the time for Madeiran voters to judge the parties on their own merits.
Extolling the virtues of his last nine years in power, Mr Albuquerque stressed economic growth in all sectors.
Very little was said about the suspicions said to be hanging over him. Indeed very little has been said about all the suspicions since Judge Jorge Bernardes de Melo let everyone go home, against the wishes of public prosecutors.
