The centrist, who was nominated by the PSD after having signed a parliamentary agreement with the CDS-PP, disputed the presidency with Sancha Campanella, proposed by the PS, the largest bench of the Madeiran opposition, having been elected on the third ballot with 24 votes, in a universe of 47 deputies.
The socialist Sancha Campanella obtained 22 votes in the three votes, while José Manuel Rodrigues reached 20 in the first vote, 23 in the second and, finally, 24, which corresponds to an absolute majority, an essential condition for the election of the president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira.
Following the early legislative elections, seven parties were represented in the Madeiran parliament, namely the PSD (19 deputies), the PS (11), the JPP (nine), the Chega (four), the CDS-PP (two), the IL (one) and the PAN (one).
The PSD was nominated by the representative of the Republic for Madeira to form a government, considering that it won the elections and signed a parliamentary agreement with the centrists, still falling short of an absolute majority.
"This will be a different legislature from the previous ones and will require from all of us an additional effort of dialogue, negotiation and conciliation of positions", said José Manuel Rodrigues, after the election, stressing that the "great challenge" of the deputies will now be to "build bridges instead of walls, to build the encounter and not the rejection, to build unity instead of hostility and to promote hope and not defeatism".
The centrist, who has held the position of president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira since 2019, quoted the philosopher Plato, when stating that "democracy is the harmonisation of opposites", and warned of the "great message" of the Madeirans in the last elections.
"The great message that the Madeirans left us in the May elections was that they did not want absolute majorities and wanted all the deputies of the various parties to be able to find ways of understanding to serve the common good," he said.
José Manuel Rodrigues greeted the socialist candidate Sancha Campanella and the deputies who voted for her, assuring that, after the election, she will be "president of all 47 deputies".
"If the purpose of my first two terms [2019-2023 and 2023-2024] were to open parliament to citizens and bring elected officials closer to voters, it is now necessary to open the other path: the president of the Legislative Assembly to be a factor in promoting dialogue and negotiation between all deputies," he said, stressing, however, those parliamentarians face the "thorny and demanding task" of blurring differences and seeking "consensus to ensure political stability and governance of Madeira and Porto Santo".
This was the first time in the history of Madeira's autonomous regime, since 1976, that the election for president of the Legislative Assembly had two candidates and also the first time that a woman was nominated for the position.
In October 2023, following the regional elections that gave victory to the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, without an absolute majority, the centrist José Manuel Rodrigues was re-elected with 40 votes.
In addition to the election of the president of the Legislative Assembly, today the three vice-presidents were also elected, two of whom - José Prada and Rubina Leal - were proposed by the PSD and one - Victor Freitas - by the PS.
José Prada and Rubina Leal obtained 44 votes in favor and three blank votes, while Victor Freitas was elected with 39 votes in favor, three blank and one null.
The deputies also elected secretaries of the board – Clara Tiago (PSD) and Marta Freitas (PS) – and deputy secretaries – Cláudia Gomes (PSD) and Jéssica Teles (JPP) – in a joint list that was approved with 46 votes in favor and one blank.
The early elections in Madeira took place eight months after the most recent regional legislative elections, after the President of the Republic dissolved the Madeiran parliament, following the political crisis triggered in January, when the leader of the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP), Miguel Albuquerque, was made a defendant in a case in which suspicions of corruption are investigated.