Miguel Albuquerque
Miguel Albuquerque
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Miguel Albuquerque

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Miguel Albuquerque

Miguel Filipe Machado de Albuquerque (born 4 May 1961) is a Portuguese politician and the current President of the Regional Government of Madeira. He took office as leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) of Madeira on 10 January 2015. He was a former mayor of Funchal, Madeira. Albuquerque likes gardening and used to grow many types of roses in his rose garden and Quinta do Arco.

He was indicted in January 2024 for alleged active and passive corruption, embezzlement, abuse of power and influence peddling. The mayor of Funchal, Pedro Calado, and two businessmen were also arrested in the same case and later released with accusations pending further investigations. Albuquerque is one of the richest politicians in Portugal and a monarchist.

As a mayor he signed an agreement to the twinning of the city of Funchal and Gibraltar on 13 May 2009 by the then mayor of Gibraltar Solomon Levy, who had been an Evacuee during the Evacuation of the Gibraltarian civilian population during World War II from Gibraltar to Madeira. Levy then had a meeting with the then President of Madeira Alberto João Jardim.

In April 2012 Miguel opened a road in St Helier, Jersey, which was named Rue de Funchal, after his native city.

In the 29 March 2015 regional elections Albuquerque's centre right party PSD have held on to power after an overall majority with 44.4% of the votes and winning 24 seats in the regional parliament. It was the 11th time in a row the PSD has won an absolute majority in Madeira.

This election was the first in which PSD's former leader and president of the region, Alberto João Jardim's name did not appear on the ballot, as he stated in 2011, meaning he would step down as the president and leader of PSD-Madeira in 2015. Albuquerque was then elected on 29 December 2014 as president and leader of PSD-Madeira, but he stated that he would not automatically assume the position as president of the Autonomous Region of Madeira without any elections, though parliament was dissolved. In accordance with the law, once parliament is dissolved, the President is obliged go to Lisbon to join a meeting of the Portuguese Council of State and to explain why parliament was dissolved. The president at the time Alberto Joao Jardim was called to attend, which he did and he asked Cavaco Silva, President of Portugal, to call an election in Madeira, which he did so for the 29th of March 2015.

Miguel Albuquerque is a suspect in criminal proceedings for corruption, economic participation in business and malfeasance, in addition to possible violation of community rules on adjudication. The investigation was opened in 2019, in Funchal. At issue is the possible relationship between Miguel Albuquerque's private real estate business and the direct adjustment of the Madeira Free Trade Zone concession to the Pestana Group. On March 17, 2021, following an anonymous complaint, several services of the Government of Madeira were searched, with “facts likely to be part of the practice of crimes of malfeasance, corruption and economic participation in business” at stake. Elements of the Portuguese Judiciary Police and the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP) also carried out, on May 13, 2021, searches at the facilities of the Government of Madeira, as part of the tender relating to the maritime connection between Funchal and Portimão, confirmed the executive regional.

On January 24, 2024, the Portuguese Judiciary Police carried out around 130 searches, in Madeira and on the Portuguese mainland, as part of three legal proceedings. Miguel Albuquerque was named a defendant on the same day by the Public Prosecutor's Office, accused of 8 crimes: active corruption, passive corruption, malfeasance, undue receipt of an advantage, influence peddling, abuse of power, economic participation in business and an attack on the rule of law. As part of the same processes, the Mayor of Funchal, Pedro Calado, and two businessmen, Avelino Farinha from Grupo AFA and Custódio Correia from Grupo Socicorreia, were arrested on the same day.

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