The Lifting of Immunity for Members of the Government accused of crime voted for the 1st time in Madeira

The lifting of the immunity from prosecution of members of the Government was voted for the first time in the Madeiran Parliament - but with a curious twist!

Hitherto, the Chair of the Parliament merely read the correspondence among which would figure letters from members of the Government requesting the non-lifting of their immunity from prosecution, and these, it seemed, often went unnoticed among the chit-chat of the MPs.

The New Democracy Party (PND), however, has long been trying to get the Public Prosecutor's requests voted, as already happens for the MPs themselves - but only after the newspapers (Garajau among them) exposed the MPs abuse of Parliamentary Immunity.

The New Democracy MPs (I am currently replacing Helder Spinola) have been challenging the Chair's procedure every time one of these cases crops up - which is remarkably frequent.

At the end of last year, in response to Helder's challenges, the Chair called for a legal written advice from a top constitutionalist, which duly materialized but was nevermore mentioned. I requested a copy and discovered why. The advice stated unequivocally that the authorization for the lifting or not of parliamentary immunity HAD to be voted.

Yesterday, for the first time, and giving the due credit to the PND, the Chair put no less than three requests for the lifting of immunity of government to the vote. To my great surprise, the two major opposition parties, the Christian Democrats and the Socialists voted AGAINST the lifting of parliamentary immunity.

Those who so often denounce corruption and denounce the inefficiency of the justice system are PROTECTING government members whenever the justice system does act! They complain, for example, of election fraud, but they are accomplices in protecting Jardim from prosecution in two separate cases brought against him for violating the election law.

Madeira Secretary of Tourism refuses to go on trial

Conceição Estudante, Madeira's Secretary of Tourism has refused to go on trial to answer on two criminal processes. The letter of refusal was read out in the Regional Parliament. No one was informed what the charges are, nor even if the gravity of the crime would allow Estudante to claim Parliamentary Immunity.

In Madeira, its as simple as that. Parliamentary Immunity for Jardim's party works as a general amnesty. The opacity is total and the impunity legendary.

Jaime Ramos and the Hidden debt investigation

The  Expresso weekly reported that Jaime Ramos is business partner of two of the construction companies who are creditors of the Regional Government in the 1.1 billion of hidden debt.

As is well known, Jaime is chair of the Cimentos Europa, in which he owns a 22,5% stake. AFA, Tamega and Zagope are the other shareholders.

Jaime Ramos and his son, Avelino Faria (AFA) and Tamega are also equal shareholders in Ecoram, a waste-treatment company.

Jaime Ramos and son are 100% shareholders in the tarmac supply company AECP-Asfaltos, Emulsões e Combustíveis.

(Nobody knows who the owner of the AFA shares owned Offshore are)

AFA, Tamega and Zagope are on the list of hidden debt credit which is being investigated by the Central Investigation Department in the operation designated 'Cuba Livre'. The investigation is on whether members of the government hid the debt from the Bank of Portugal and the Institute of Statistics on Purpose, a crime punishable with a one year jail sentence (which will lead nowhere since it is not severe enough to oblige the lifting of their parliamentary immunity! - just like the election violations!).


According to the Court Auditors, some of the debt (in 2009) reported to construction projects completed in 2003, but not billed until 3 or 4 years later. The Government had made a secret deal with the constructors to pay them in installments up until 1914, but never reported the debts.

There seems to be an obvious collusion between Bertie, Ramos and his construction partners in hiding the debt to keep Bertie in power and ensure his program of public construction would continue to drive huge sums into their pockets.


We used to joke about the 'Cement Lobby', but in this case, there is no need for a lobby since they are directly represented in Government. 

Public Prosecutor’s Office considers immunities unconstitutional

The Public Prosecutor’s Office considers that the parliamentary norms of the Regional Parliament of Madeira are against the Constitution. This does not stop them being applied until they are declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Tribunal.

The norm, introduced in 1991, that concedes immunity to the President of the Regional Government means that Jardim cannot be constituted ‘arguido’ without Parliamentary approval, a motion the PSD majority has never approved.

According to the Public Prosecutor’s office the judicial authorities or the Criminal Police do not need the Parliament’s authorization to inquire an MP who is constituted ‘arguido’ when the case against him involves crimes liable to prison sentences of three or more years. Nevertheless, the PSD determined not to authorize Miguel Mendonça, chair of the Regional Parliament to be heard in a case in which he is accused by the PND of ‘coercion of an institution’, namely for having an MP physically barred by a hired security firm from entering Parliament and for trying to suspend him unconstitutionally.

President ‘immune’ in Election Violations Case

Article in Publico , 21^st of May

More than 40 cases stopped awaiting lifting of parliamentary immunity

‘In terms of crimes, there are a number of cases which are dragging on, suspended, awaiting the lifting of parliamentary immunity or authorization to testify’, states the coordinator of the Public Prosecution office, Gonçalves Pereira in his report on the Funchal judiciary relating to the year 2010. Circa 40 are criminal cases.

In the parliamentary session held Wednesday, the same day President Jardim threatened to install criminal proceedings against Louçã, leader of the Bloco Esquerda Party, the PSD majority approved a motion, presented by Jardim himself, to not authorize Jardim to be constituted ‘arguido’ and be questioned by the Public Prosecution in a case of election violations, which had its origins in a complaint lodged by the New Democracy Party (PND). In the same session, the PSD authorized the lifting of Parliamentary Immunity of two Socialist MPs in cases brought against then by the regional Power.

The crime case brought by the PND against President Jardim considers that the latter participates in official inauguration ceremonies simultaneously as President of the Region and Party Leader, specifically when he appeals for votes for his own candidates and slates opposition candidates. The National Commission of Elections, an entity Jardim whose authority Jardim claims not to recognize and which he classifies as a ‘secret police’ of the Salazar dictatorship, has ignored similar complaints lodged by various parties.

One of these crime-cases, lodged by the PND regarding the 2007 elections, gave origin to the process identified as 1049/07.4 TAFUN. Two years after the occurrences, the Public Prosecutor’s office shelved the case, alleging that the court should only act in ‘extreme, unequivocal or flagrante’ cases, in other words, that the law was only violated when the office-holder favors his party or negatively affects another party in a gross way.

Notified that this process had been shelved, the PND leader lodged a hierarchical appeal only to be informed by the Public Prosecution that the alleged crimes had already prescribed at the time the case was shelved.