In an open letter to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is in Madeira for the June 10 celebration, Alberto João Jardim believes the future will be “very compromised” if the archipelago’s claims are not met.

“Civically mature for many years, the people of Madeira know that consensus is not ‘surrender’ but civilized concessions. The Portuguese and politically autonomous territory, which is the Madeira archipelago, has a very compromise future if political autonomy is no longer in line with obvious and objectively verified needs, ”writes the Social Democrat in a letter published in Jornal da Madeira.

According to the former president of the regional government, the future will be in jeopardy if “the problem of state ‘debt’ in the spirit of justice is not resolved due to age-old and current circumstances.”

“And not forgetting about the“ debt forgiveness ”made by Portugal to the peoples who legally made a choice in favor of independence,” he emphasizes.

In his opinion, the future will also be jeopardized if “the Republic does not provide regional finances with a legal, stable and effective regime, as well as a substantial tax system of its own, which also meets national interests and contributes to the country’s competitiveness. International Business Center.”

According to Alberto João Jardim, the Portuguese state cannot yield to the “interests” of other competing countries, including the European Union.

<< It is now necessary to end the central discrimination against the University of Madeira. This is structuring. Not only in the field of knowledge, culture and professionals; but also in the provision of services, internal or external to the territory; in research, in particular in relation to offshore extensions, which is Portugal; in the globalization of our isolation; in supporting socio-economic development; and in improving the redistribution of wealth through wages paid to the most qualified professionals, "he emphasizes.

“Let’s be realistic! These issues need to be viewed as a whole, not in isolation, so interconnected and interdependent, ”he adds.

The President of the Republic arrived in Funchal on Monday evening to celebrate Portugal Day.

On Thursday, a military ceremony commemorating the Day of Portugal, Camoes and Portuguese Communities will take place at Plaza Autonomia and Avenida do Mar in Funchal.

The ceremony will be addressed by the President of the Republic and Dr. Carmo Caldeira, Director of Surgical Services at the Hospital, Dr. Nelio Mendonça, whom Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has chosen to chair the organizing committee for Portugal Day.

Demand for greater regional autonomy was often made in Madeira, with the current regional government (PSD / CDS-PP) also holding that the republic’s government did not engage in dialogue with the archipelago and did not respect all of its territorial succession obligations.

In 2020, at the Final Commission on Deepening Autonomy and Reforming the Political System in the Parliament of Madeira, Jardim said that there should be “a very serious conversation” about autonomy.

“In my personal opinion, the revision of the Political and Administrative Statute and the Regional Finance Law should not precede the revision of the constitution and the solution of the historical problem of debt,” he advised then.

According to Alberto Juan Jardim, the revision of the Regional Finance Law should contain regulatory proposals that “are aimed at settling the historic debt. [do Estado durante seis séculos] at the meeting of the accounts with the regional public debt before the end of the Economic and Financial Assistance Program, or at least converting it into indefinite debt, as in some cases after the Second World War. “