“This only opens the doors to populism“, Miguel Albuquerque told journalists during his visit to the Festa do Pero, in the parish of Ponta do Pargo, in the municipality of Calheta, in the western part of Madeira.

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The recent news from various media outlets hints there are chances that three regional secretaries—those of Finance, Health, and Civil Protection and Equipment and Investment—may also be named defendants in the “AB INITIO” process.

Concerns Over Anonymous Complaints

This process was developed on Tuesday in Madeira and resulted in eight arrests, with nine individuals already identified as defendants. In response, the head of the Madeiran executive emphasized the need to stop this process of using anonymous complaints.

He argued:

“Because this process of making anonymous complaints for political purposes, I am talking about the general process of what is happening in the country, will lead, on the one hand, to the political dialectic not being created where it should be created, within the parliamentary framework and political parties, but will instead lead to the judicial powers being superior to engage in politics in order to discredit people.”

The Madeiran social-democratic leader added that these are processes in which no one in the democratic parties wins. He added:

“We do not live in a subverted democracy, but in one where any situation that results from any complaint triggers an investigation process.”

Defense of PSD/Madeira Financing

Albuquerque insisted that there is no illegality in the PSD/Madeira financing. He stated that this can be proven through the verification of accounts by the Constitutional Court.

Additionally, he mentioned that the [Regional] Government bodies, concerning contractual matters, provided all the information and are available to clarify everything.

In his opinion, this wave of populism and indignation [on social media] is fatal to keeping democracy functioning. He added that it is promoted by dysfunctional forces that want power, which resort to the use of judicial power in order to achieve political ends.

He also assured that he would maintain confidence in the regional secretaries allegedly targeted in this process, stressing:

“That was the last straw [not keeping them in their positions]. Why were they going to be removed? As far as I know, no one was consulted.”

Support for Carlos Teles

In his speech at the party, he took the opportunity to send a hug to Carlos Teles, the president of the Calheta Municipal Council. Teles was arrested on Tuesday as part of this process but was later released after initial questioning.

Miguel Albuquerque said:

“He doesn’t need anyone to defend him because the people of Calheta know him very well. They know that he is a kind, honest, upright man, who knows how to talk to people and has done a fantastic job serving our population.”

Details of the Investigation

As part of the “AB INITIO” investigation, several individuals were arrested. The arrested include the following:

• Carlos Teles, the president of the Calheta Municipal Council and the Madeira Association of Municipalities
• Bruno Freitas, the president of the board of directors of the Madeira Health Administration Institute (Iasaúde)
• Humberto Vasconcelos, the former regional secretary for Agriculture
• Paulo Santos, the former director of Agriculture and Regional Development
• Two employees from the same department of the Regional Government
• Businessmen Humberto Drumond and Miguel Nóbrega

Furthermore, the general secretary of PSD/Madeira, José Prada, was also named as a defendant. The detainees were all released on Thursday under the following conditions:

• They must adhere to an Identity and Residence Term.
• They are prohibited from contacting each other.
• They are required to notify the court if they plan to leave Madeira.

More importantly, their passports were not confiscated. Additionally, only Bruno Freitas, the president of the advisory board of the Madeira Health Administration Institute (Iasaúde), has been suspended from his public office.

Judicial Police Operation

This Tuesday, the Judicial Police conducted an operation in Madeira related to suspicions of economic and financial crime, named AB INITIO. The issue at hand is suspicion of committing the crimes of economic participation in business, receiving or offering undue advantages, prevarication and prohibited financing of political parties.

At least 25 competitions carried out between 2020 and 2024, totaling more than one million euros (excluding VAT), are currently under investigation.