The applications were submitted by April 15 and, on the 22nd, the president of the Madeira District Court issued an order admitting all the lists. The order of the ballot paper for the only regional constituency was also drawn, in which the Alternativa Democrática Nacional (ADN) appears in first place.

The Bloco de Esquerda (BE), the Partido Socialista (PS), the Livre (L), the Iniciativa Liberal (IL), the Reagir, Incluir, Reciclar (RIR), the CDU -- Coligação Democrática Unitária (PCP/PEV), the Chega (CH), the CDS -- Partido Popular (CDS-PP), the Partido da Terra (MPT), the Partido Social-Democrata (PPD/PSD), the Pessoas-Animais-Natureza (PAN), the Partido Trabalhista Português (PTP) and the Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP) follow.

The PSD, the party that has governed Madeira for almost five decades, broke the coalition it had with the CDS (present in the executive in the last two terms) and the two parties will run with their own lists. Thus, the CDU is the only repeating coalition.

Most of the candidacies repeat the top of the list: Miguel Pita (ADN), Roberto Almada (BE), Nuno Morna (IL), Edgar Silva (CDU), Miguel Castro (CH), Válter Rodrigues (MPT), Miguel Albuquerque, outgoing president of the Madeiran executive (PSD), Mónica Freitas (PAN) and Élvio Sousa (JPP).

The PS and the CDS-PP are betting on their regional leaders, positions now held by Paulo Cafôfo and José Manuel Rodrigues (president of the regional parliament in the last two terms), respectively.

Former deputy Raquel Coelho returns to the top of the PTP list, Liana Reis is the top of the RIR list and Livre debuts Marta Sofia.

The ADN intends to improve the electoral result it obtained seven months ago, when it fell "short of expectations", without achieving representation in parliament, and wants to contribute to preventing the PSD's absolute majority.

As for the BE, which returned to the assembly in the September 2023 legislative elections, it will work to strengthen its representation, considering that it was not able to "present half of its proposals".

In the case of the PS, which has always held the position of the largest opposition party in Madeira, it assumes itself as "the only alternative" for the presidency of the Regional Government and says that the PSD is "falling apart, tied, caught in a web of interests".

Livre states that "the focus is to try to fight for a parliamentary group" and argues that "free people are needed in the regional parliament".

The IL, which made its debut in the Legislative Assembly in this interrupted legislature, by electing a deputy, is running with the aim of "growing, consolidating, and making liberalism increasingly implanted in Madeira", while the RIR is going to this suffrage with the goal of obtaining a seat, under the campaign slogan "Reagir pela Madeira".

The CDU, which has maintained a single deputy in the last two legislatures, presents itself "as the force to combat exploitation and social injustices", and the CDS-PP is focused on being "a safe haven" for those who are discontented and disillusioned with other political forces.

In turn, the MPT wants to defend the people of Madeira in areas that it considers "fundamental", such as the fight against corruption and the creation of better social conditions, in terms of education, health and access to housing, especially for young couples.

For the PSD, Miguel Albuquerque - who resigned after being charged in a judicial investigation related to evidence of corruption - is determined to achieve the absolute majority that he lost in 2019 and does not set "red lines" for any party to achieve this goal.

The PAN, which returned to parliament in 2023 by electing a deputy - Mónica Freitas, with whom the PSD signed an agreement of parliamentary incidence and who withdrew political confidence from Albuquerque after the judicial process became known -, hopes to keep the seat to "continue the work" developed.

After having had a parliamentary group with three seats, the PTP wants to return to the hemicycle, considering that it is necessary to have a "voice to denounce corruption, to defend the Regional Budget, to prevent the great ruinous businesses from being carried out".

The JPP, a party that emerged from a citizens' movement and saw its parliamentary group strengthened -- it has five deputies --, assumed that it has a policy of monitoring the actions of public officials and set as its goal to stop the "disaster" of the Madeiran executive.

The early elections take place eight months after the most recent regional legislative elections, after the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, dissolved parliament, following the political crisis triggered in January, when Albuquerque was charged and resigned. The executive has been under management since then.

Among the 47 mandates assigned last year, the PSD/CDS-PP coalition won 23, the PS elected 11, the JPP five and Chega four, while the CDU, IL, PAN and BE each elected one deputy.

Leia Também: Madeira vai a votos daqui a um mês. O que importa saber? (Portuguese version)