Jardim tears newspaper

President Jardim, while visiting the offices of the Madeira rally, took the opportunity to tear up a copy of the Diário de Notícias newspaper.

In the run up to the elections, the government owned freebie newspaper, the Jornal, has been covering almost exclusively the initiatives of the PSD candidates.

PSD Foundation received 1.1 million Euros of state funding

Jardim lied about state funding granted to the PSD Madeira Foundation. In 2011, when the national government anounced it was launching an inquest into foundations recieving state founding, Jardim stated that the foundation of which he is president had never received a bean.

At the end of 2009, the Madeira Social Democrat Foundation applied for 1.6 million Euro in rural develpment funding, related to the countryside estate where his party holds its annual political rally. The funding was duly approved and paid up: 518,530 Euros in 2010; 81,779 Euros in 2011; 268,460 Euros in 2012; 235,818 Euros in 2013.

It would be interesting to find out just how the funding has been applied.

Funchal Mayor's car vandalised

The car belonging to Miguel Albuquerque, the Mayor of Funchal who challenged Jardim for the party leadership, was vandalised last night. It was parked outside his block of flats and the glass was smashed by a sharp object, presumed to be a pickaxe.

Similar acts of vandalism have occurred in the past against the property of opposition politicians. The fact that nothing was stolen from the vehicle, adds to the suspicion that the crime was politically motivated. Jardim's popularity is dwindling fast and he is well known for inciting violence against his political opponents - an ever increasing number are now from his own party.

Court Audits shelved by Public Prosecutor worth 520 million Euros

Source: Publico

The prosecutor attatched to the Court Auditors has refrained from taking to court eleven of the 39 audits which detected financial abuses. The shelving of these proceedings totals up to around 520 million Euros in undue payments and hidden debts.

In all the audits in which the Court considered members of the Regional Government indicted por the practice of abuses where the latter were financialy liable, the current Public Prosecutor refrained from requiring those responsible stand trial, said the judge, João Aveiro Pereira.

Salazar Law may get Jardim and pals off the hook

At the centre of the dispute between the judge and the public prosecutor attached to the Court Auditor’s Office is a 1933 law. The Public Prosecutor is basing his decision not to prosecute Jardim and company based on the decree 22.257 of 1933, which states that ministers may only be held responsible for financial infractions if they ignore or override the technical advice of the hierarchical subalterns.

This is near impossible in Madeira where the civil service is peopled by Yes men and Jardim regularly threatens all those who ‘obstruct’ him with retaliations.

The big question is, will this argument also be used in the – never heard of again - ‘Cuba Livre’ criminal investigation, regarding the deliberate hiding of the Madeira debt?  

Jardim’s discourse seems to suggest this. He initially proudly claimed he had deliberately hidden the debt because Portugal was cutting funding to Madeira. He later changed his tune, saying he was not an accountant and that the whole fiasco was due to an incompatibility between the computer programs of two Government Departments. Will Jardim’s initial admission of guilt figure in the Public Prosecutor’s accusation? I doubt it. 

PSD infighting latest

Jaime Ramos, the PSD Parliamentary group leader is moving to have his party colleague Miguel de Sousa suspended from Parliament due to missing too many sessions. Sousa is known for just clocking in and out, but due to the Party's slim majority more discipline is now required. Sousa then urged Jaime to set the agenda for Parliamentary sessions well in advance so he could plan his time, whereupon Jaime showered him with insults calling him, among other things, a 'pimp'. Jaime's attempted expulsion of Sousa follows on the news that Sousa's law suit against him is set to start soon. The duo belong two biggest rival 'business families' within the PSD.

Meanwhile Jardim is also threatening to expel any dissidents who present independent lists for the forthcoming municipal elections. Young PSD militants are preparing independent candidatures for the Monte and Imaculado Coração.  

Former Socialist leader again criminally prosecuted by Jardim

The former Madeira Socialist Party leader, João Carlos Gouveia is to stand trial for allegedly defaming Jardim next Thursday. I will be a witness for the defense.

The trial is another political farce, starting with the fact that the crime is supposed to be harsher due to Jardim being President of the Regional Government. That is the first big joke, for Jardim has no legitimacy due to the fact that his victories were won violating the election laws and resorting to Nazi-style hate speeches which in a decent country would have had him behind bars, if not in a loony bin. Yet despite all the proof in the hands of the Public Prosecutor's Office they seem somehow unable to draft an accusation to take the bggr to trial.

To Jardim, these policial trials are all a great joke. He shunts public money into the pockets of one of his lawyer friends, in this case his pal the PSD regional MP, Tranquada Gomes, and if things go well he gets to pocket a few thousand. Its one of Jardim's favourite hobbies, especially since it does not cost him anything...

But the funny thing it seems some one of the Public Prosecutors seems to also want to get in on the action. Maria Gameiro, the Deputy Public Prosecutor who notoriously shelved the fraud case against the Jornal - apparently she's ignorant of the law and blind to it - is also taking Gouveia to Court for slander. I really look forward to testifying in that case, I am only sad that it has been postponed.