JPP criticizes PR's lack of response at the hearing request made months ago

O Together by the People (JPP) today criticized the lack of response to a formal request for a hearing addressed seven months ago to the President of the Republic, António José Seguro, in order to discuss problems affecting the autonomous regions.

The Secretary-General of the party, based in Madeira, Elvio Sousa, considers that the delay in replying to the request for a hearing is revealing how the problems of the autonomous regions are handled by the national authorities.

“Silence and alleged disinterest is also a form of response,” he said.

The leader of the largest party of the Madeiran opposition argues that these seven months of waiting are “another proof” that the executive or influential bodies, mediation and supervision ignore the problems of the autonomous regions.

The leader acknowledges the importance of other national problems, but stresses that Madeira's specific issues cannot be forgotten.

“ Of course, we are aware of the problem of the lack of affordable housing, which is mastering the daily desperation of thousands of Portuguese families, and the agenda of social cohesion on the verge of the vote on the State Budget, but we must not forget the commitments and the circle for which we were elected”, he says.

Elvio Sousa highlights the cost of living, inflation, tax burden and air travel charges, stressing that Madeirans are faced with the country's highest inflation and VAT rates and continue to have to advance the total value of plane tickets, although they are then compensated through the Territorial Continuity Mechanism.

The leader of the JPP, also a deputy in the regional parliament, also identified maritime links with the continent, the International Business Centre of Madeira (CINM), the revision of the Regional Finance Act and the payment of the charges relating to health subsystems as “fundamental dossiers for the future of Madeira” which remain unanswered by the central power.

The JPP was born as a citizens' movement in 2009, in the municipality of Santa Cruz, in the eastern part of Madeira, the municipality that leads since 2013 with an absolute majority, and became a political party in 2015, when it elected five deputies to the regional parliament.

Currently, it is the largest party of the Madeiran opposition, with 11 deputies in the Legislative Assembly, composed of a total of 47.

In May 2025, he became the first party based outside Lisbon to elect a deputy to the Portuguese parliament, Filipe Sousa.