The decision arose from a proposal by IL's sole deputy, Nuno Morna, presented in committee and justified by the fact that the PSD Regional Government of Madeira, led by Miguel Albuquerque, was overthrown with the approval of a motion to censorship presented by Chega.
The motion had votes in favour from all opposition parties (PS, JPP, Chega, IL and PAN), for a total of 26 votes, in a universe of 47 deputies that make up the Madeiran parliament. Only PSD (19 deputies) and CDS-PP (two) voted against.
According to Madeira's Political-Administrative Statute, the executive remains in office until a new team takes office. Meanwhile, the representative of the Republic in the archipelago, Ireneu Barreto, must listen to the parties represented in the Legislative Assembly, and it is then up to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to decide whether to dissolve the parliament and call elections.
Socialist Sancha Campanela, president of the commission of inquiry that was proposed by the PS, reported that 11 entities still need to be heard.
The rural fire broke out on the island of Madeira on August 14, in the mountains of the municipality of Ribeira Brava, progressively spreading to the municipalities of Câmara de Lobos, Ponta do Sol, in the west of Madeira, and Santana, on the north coast.
On the 26th, it was declared “completely extinct”, with more than five thousand hectares of burned area.
According to the Madeiran executive, there were no reports of injuries or the destruction of houses and essential public infrastructure, but forest areas and small agricultural production were affected.
The return of the president of the Regional Government to the island of Porto Santo, after traveling for a day to Madeira, while the fire was still active, and the supposed delay in requesting reinforcement of air resources to fight the fire were issues criticized by the different political parties.
Authorities indicated that around 200 people left their homes as a precaution, and public reception facilities were made available. Many residents returned in the following days, except for the approximately 120 residents of Fajã das Galinhas, in Câmara de Lobos, who were definitively relocated to other locations due to the danger of the only road and access to the site.
Fighting the flames was made difficult by the strong wind that hit the region and often prevented the intervention of the only helicopter allocated for this purpose in the region.
On August 21, the European Civil Protection Mechanism was activated and two Cannadair planes arrived, and there was a reinforcement of dozens of firefighters from the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority and the Azores.
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