Let’s imagine a woman sitting alone at a desk in a dark office on the second floor of a factory where only she works. Everything else is flies and machinery. The woman twiddles her thumbs anxiously, not knowing what to do because no one lets her work, nor do they even send her irrelevant paperwork to pretend or keep her minimally occupied. She is dependent on a group of bosses who live far away and hate her because she has the nerve to criticize some strategy of her government and wants something better for her society.
This is the reality of many people working in public administration, as a recent report in Público (one of Portugal’s major newspapers) made the country aware.
On October 13, Ana Cristina Pereira’s investigation exposed a series of frightening cases in the Madeira archipelago. For the more distracted, let’s start by remembering that the PSD is the main party responsible for the governance of these islands and has been for almost fifty years, which means that, between Jardim and Albuquerque, the orange-colored ruling power has dominated Madeirans for longer than the Estado Novo itself lasted. Of course, some say that times are different and that, in theory, at least, we breathe the air of freedom and globalization. No one wants to believe that it is possible to create an authoritarian regime within our borders, and we reject the narrative that controls the masses and the direct application of the policies and strategies of a single political party. But it’s not really true. Neither there nor here.
The “Público” report brings to light a truth that many people know, and which not exclusive to Madeira, but seems to be the banner of the PSD, in all its degrees and qualities. For decades, that party and its satellites have been fighting for the systematic
the systematic destruction of the public administration through tricks, pressure, and stratagems, or even veiled harassment, duly shielded in robust legal offices that strangle any attempt at insurrection. In Madeira’s case, the message is that anyone who has dared to be part of an opposing party, or to join an opposing list in any electoral list in an election, or to have a dissenting idea of their own will forever be burned in the eyes of Great Father Albuquerque and his long tentacles of his family.
The political cadres are trained in companies, institutions, and youth associations, duly commanded by PSD members, and directed towards the training of new leaders to be coapted for the regional public administration, which is growing fatter at the top while weakening and aging at the grassroots. Anyone who questions the regime is put on the shelf. Indeed, this is not
exclusive to the PSD. Still, it’s also clear that it’s an image we tend to associate with authoritarian regimes that aim to dismantle any attempt to rationalize the effectiveness and efficiency of the public and efficiency of the civil service in fulfilling the objectives for which it was created. There is a clear message coming from Madeira. A message that is strengthened by the friendship treaties with the president of the Azorean government, his contemporary. And it is an unequivocal message: either you’re with us, or your job in the public sector is over. Fortunately, there are no mass redundancies because the legislation doesn’t allow it. But everyone knows that you don’t have to fire to destroy. All you have to do is remove the people who occupy technical management positions and stand out for their work to make way for people who go by political appointment, carry out orders alien to the public service, and maintain minimum services.
This is what Madeira is like. Any resemblance to the reality in the Azores is no coincidence.
Albuquerque complains about his public administration. He wants it to be lighter, with less regional finances and more effective results. But he pushes aside those who know how to work and gives way to those who blindly support him. He is a president searching for an imaginary throne, responsible for the continued decay of an archipelago handed over to the private sector. Unregulated tourism is growing, people are increasingly in need, and big businessmen are guiding the strategies for the future. In fact, this is why it has been the target of accusations from the Public Prosecutor’s Office. And again, this is a reality we know well in the Azores.
Any dissenting voice or manifesto that deviates from the narrative is swept away to a dark office, where they will spend the rest of their lives in solitude, suffering psychologically from the harassment at work. Women, as always, are the ones who suffer the most from reality, as even those who inconsequentially continue to follow the one-party line end up victims of sexist provocations.
In Madeira, the public administration is the enemy. Albuquerque wants it that way to keep his self-esteem, perpetuating the old Jardim regime. Even the companies are the same. It’s an example of the PSD-Azores, which is following the model, just as it is now starting to do in the rest of the country. There are many cases in these parts. Público reminded us that it’s also time to give a voice to those suffering at the hands of Bolieiro and his rulers.
Next week, we’ll talk about them and their hatreds.

Alexandra Manes publishes regularly in Azorean newspapers. She is originally from the island of Flores and currently makes her home in Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira, Azores.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers from the Azores to give the diaspora and those interested in the current Azores a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL)