Público, 18 December 2009

Madeiran boss threatens secession

Published on 18 December 2009 at 13:42
Público, 18 December 2009

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As usual, Alberto João Jardim did not beat about the bush: “If there is any further attempt to deny us the financial resources which are ours by right, we will have to consider the alternatives.” And for the feisty president of the regional government of Madeira, one of the alternatives, as Público explains, is threatening secession. This if the government in Lisbon does not allow the island to exceed limits set by the Regional Finance Law, which establishes indebtedness ceilings for Portuguese provincial governments. Jardim, who has governed the archipelago since 1978, is pushing through an infrastructure renewal programme he claims will begin to pay for itself by 2011—a year in which he has also promised for the umpteenth time to retire from politics. He claims that independence will remain an option, although he has refrained from calling for secession because "the right conditions have yet to be established."

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