Alberto João Jardim

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Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves Jardim (born February 4, 1943 in Funchal ) is a Portuguese politician. Jardim was President of the Madeira Autonomous Region from 1978 to 2015 . He is a member of the Council of State , the Council of Defense, the Council of Internal Defense and the Council of Internal Security of the Portuguese Republic. Jardim is one of the most controversial politicians in Portugal.

Life

Jardim graduated from the Law Faculty of Coimbra University in 1973 with a law degree . At first he worked as a lawyer and as a high school teacher. He was the director of the Madeira Island Institute of Labor and Professional Development (Emprego e Formação Profissional da Ilha da Madeira) . As a journalist he worked for the Jornal da Madeira , of which he later became director.

Jardim was first sworn in as President of Madeira in March 1978.

On October 9, 2011, Jardim was elected President of the Government of the Autonomous Region of Madeira for the tenth time . He has held the office continuously since the beginning of his first term. He was also regional chairman of the center-right ruling party Partido Social Democrata (PSD). Jardim advocates greater autonomy for Portugal. His leadership style is considered authoritarian and patriarchal. During his reign, Madeira developed from one of the poorest regions in Portugal to the region with the second highest standard of living after Lisbon. In 2007 he resigned in protest against the new law on regional finances, which provided for cuts in financial aid from the state budget, but was re-elected as head of government in the subsequent early elections.

Jardim's government fell on January 12, 2015. After the early elections, he remained in office until the new government was introduced on April 20.

Madeira's billions in debt

When EU subsidies weren't bubbling up like they had been since 2000, regional president Jardim founded his own companies in order to be able to take out new loans. After Jardim's entanglements were exposed and got out of hand, German Chancellor Angela Merkel cited Madeira as an example of how not to spend regional EU development funds. Jardim responded to the criticism of his financial management in a typical fighting style by calling Merkel "ignorant".

In September 2011 it emerged that the regional government had under-stated Madeira's debts since 2008. Jardim admitted that the debt was 1.1 billion euros higher. He later stated that the debt was up to five billion euros. Portugal's Finance Minister Vítor Gaspar even spoke in October of 6.3 billion euros in debt that the regional government under Jardim had amassed. Subsequently, Alberto João Jardim's government activities have been the subject of investigations by the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), the Portuguese security police and the public prosecutor's office in Lisbon. He is accused of extensive corruption and tax fraud running into billions. Jardim denied the allegations and questioned the legality of the investigation.

Web links

Commons : Alberto João Jardim  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography ( Memento of March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Madeira Regional Government
  2. ↑ Jardim wins parliamentary election on Madeira news.ch on October 10, 2011
  3. ↑ a b Rádio Renascença: Presidente do governo madeirense esteve 36 anos no poder , January 12, 2015 , accessed on June 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ a b FAZ Online: Madeira - Greece in the Atlantic Article from October 10, 2011, accessed on October 10, 2011
  5. ↑ Billions in debt on Jardims Island ( Memento from April 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), presseurop, April 16, 2012
  6. ↑ Focus online, September 23, 2011, Moody's downgrades Madeira's creditworthiness
  7. ↑ Börsen-Zeitung, September 17, 2011, Profit-taking and Ecofin push euros
  8. ↑ Corrupção na Madeira nas mãos de Morgado ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Governo de Jardim suspeito de corrupção e fraude fiscal ( Memento from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) DN Online from April 24, 2012 (pt)
personal data
SURNAME Jardim, Alberto João
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jardim, Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Funchal , Madeira