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The Legislative Assembly of Madeira ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa da Madeira) is the
legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
of the
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy†...
of
Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
. The last regional election was held on 22 September 2019 and the party with the most votes was the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...
with 56,448 votes (39,42% share), which stand-alone holds an absolute majority in the assembly.


Powers and duties of the Assembly

The Political and Administrative Statute of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, clearly states that the Legislative Assembly has the following powers:


Political powers

* Approve the Regional Government Program; * Approve the Regional Economic and Social Development Plan; * Approve the Regional Budget, including those of the autonomous regional funds and the investment programs of each regional secretariat; * Authorize the Regional Government to make internal and external loans and other medium and long-term credit operations in accordance with the Statute and the law; * Establish the maximum limit of guarantees to be granted by the Regional Government in each year; * Vote motions of confidence and censure to the Regional Government; * Submit proposals for a regional referendum on issues of relevant regional specific interest, pursuant to these Statutes and the law; * Define the major guidelines for intervention by the Region in the process of European construction and to monitor and appreciate the activity carried out in this field by the Regional Government, namely through the approval of motions for guidance and instruments for framing economic and social development; * Issue opinions, on its own initiative or in consultation with the sovereign bodies, on matters within the competence of those that respect the Region; * Participate in the definition of the positions of the Portuguese State in the context of the process of European construction, in matters of specific interest to the Region; * Participate in the process of European construction in accordance with the Constitution and Article 96 of the Statute, i.e. when matters of specific interest to the Region are at stake.; * Establish cooperation with other foreign regional entities and participate in organizations that aim to foster interregional dialogue and cooperation, in accordance with the guidelines defined by the sovereign bodies with competence in matters of foreign policy; * Elect personalities for any position that, by law, it is incumbent upon him to designate; * Participate through their representatives in the meetings of the commissions of the Assembly of the Republic where legislative proposals emanating from the Legislative Assembly are discussed.


Legislative powers

* Exercise, in its own exclusive right, the power to elaborate, modify and withdraw projects or proposals for the amendment of the Political and Administrative Statute of the Region, as well as to issue opinions on the respective rejection or introduction of changes by the Assembly of the Republic; * Exercise legislative initiative through the presentation of proposals for law or amendments to the Assembly of the Republic, as well as requiring the declaration of urgency of the respective processing; * Legislate, with respect for the fundamental principles of general laws of the Republic, in matters of specific interest to the Region that are not reserved to the sovereign bodies; * Legislate, under authorization of the Assembly of the Republic, on matters of specific interest to the Region that are not reserved to the competence of the organs; * Develop, depending on the specific interest of the Region, the basic laws in matters not reserved to the competence of the Assembly of the Republic; * Exercise its own tax powers and to adapt the national tax system to the Region under the terms set on Political and Administrative Statute and the law; * Create and extinguish
local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
, as well as to modify the respective area, under the terms of the law; * Elevate settlements; * Create public services, institutions, public funds and public companies that carry out their exclusive or predominant activity in the Region; * Define unlawful acts of mere social order and respective sanctions, without prejudice to paragraph 1), item 165 of article 165 of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
.


Jurisdiction

As set on the Political and Administrative Statute of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, the Assembly has jurisdiction over the following matters: * Demographic, emigration and resident status policy; * Guardianship over local authorities and their territorial demarcation; * Guidance, direction, coordination and inspection of public services and institutes and nationalized or public companies that exercise their activity exclusively or predominantly in the Region and in other cases where the regional interest justifies it; * Infrastructure and maritime and air transport, including stopovers and tariffs. Administration of ports and airports, including port and airport taxes and fees between islands and from abroad to islands; * Fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture, forestry, livestock. * Legal regime and land exploitation, including rural leasing; * Soil policy, spatial planning, ecological balance and environment protection. Including protection of nature and natural resources, as well as public, animal and plant health; * Water, mineral and thermal resources; * Energy from local production; * Health and social security; * Work, employment, professional training, pre-school education, basic, secondary, higher and special education; * Classification, protection and enhancement of cultural heritage; * Museums, libraries and archives; * Public shows and entertainment; * Sports; * Tourism and hospitality; * Crafts and folklore; * Expropriation, for public benefit, of assets located in the Region, as well as civil requisition; * Public works and social equipment; * Housing and urbanism; * Media; * Internal, external trade and supply; * Foreign direct investment and technology transfer; * Mobilization of savings formed in the Region with a view to financing investments made in it; * Industrial development; * Adaptation of the tax system to the regional economic reality and concession of tax benefits; * Articulation of the Regional Civil Protection Service with the competent national entities; * Regional statistics; * Forests, parks and nature reserves; * Circulation, transit and land transport routes; * Sea shore; * Valorization of human resources and quality of life; * Organization of the regional administration and the services included therein, including the central administration; * Maintenance of public order; * Interregional cooperation and dialogue under the terms of paragraph u) of paragraph 1 of article 227 of the Constitution; * Construction, installation or use of military bases, as well as infrastructures and related equipment; * Construction, installation or use of infrastructures for the purpose of observation, study and scientific research; * Other matters that exclusively concern the Region or that assume a particular configuration there.


Supervisory powers

* Ensure compliance with the Constitution, the Statute and the laws and assess the actions of the Government and the regional administration; * Approve the Region's accounts for each economic year and review the reports on the implementation of the Regional Plan for Economic and Social Development; * Request the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
to declare unconstitutionality and illegality of rules issued by the sovereign bodies for violation of the rights of the Region, namely the rights provided for in the present Statute; * To supervise the application of structural funds in the Region and other community programs of regional or national scope affecting the Region.


Regulatory powers

* It is incumbent upon the Legislative Assembly, in the exercise of regulatory functions, to regulate the general laws issued by the sovereign bodies that do not reserve the respective regulatory power for them.


Structure and election

The Legislative Assembly of Madeira is composed of deputies, elected by universal, direct and secret suffrage, by constituencies. According to the Electoral Law, the regional parliament has 47 deputies elected in a single regional constituency. Voters are Portuguese citizens registered in the voter registration of any municipality in the Madeiran archipelago.


Committees

Following the Portuguese parliamentary system in the Legislative Assembly there are Permanent Specialized
Committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
, with specific competences, and there may be Occasional Committees, with their own competences, the latter are created for a limited time and aim to fulfil a certain function that culminates with the presentation of a report describing the work carried out, containing the respective conclusions, including Inquiry Committees.


Architecture

In 1976, the beginning of the I Legislature and until December 4, 1987, the date of the inauguration of the current facilities, the Assembly's services were based in the building of the former ''Junta Geral'', on Avenida Zarco. The new headquarters was installed in the Old Customs of Funchal building, classified as a National Monument. The building's restoration project, then vacant, was carried out by the architect Raul Chorão Ramalho. Leaning against the old
Manueline The Manueline ( pt, estilo manuelino, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manuel ...
staircase to the east of the building, is the Chapel of Santo António da Mouraria, founded in 1714.


Regional elections

*
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
* 1980 * 1984 * 1988 *
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
* 1996 *
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
* 2004 * 2007 *
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
*
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
* 2019


See also

*
List of presidents of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira The president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, Legislative Assembly of Madeira is the speaker (politics), speaker of the regional parliament of this autonomous region of Portugal. The position was created in 1976 after the newly enacted ...
* Legislative Assembly of the Azores


References

Politics of Madeira Legislatures of country subdivisions {{Portugal-poli-stub