Alberto Joao Jardim

Jardim on a poster
President of the Regional Government of Madeira
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 17, 1978
Preceded byJaime Ornelas Camacho
Personal details
Born(1943-02-04) 4 February 1943 (age 69)
Funchal, Madeira Island, Madeira
Political partyPSD
Spouse(s)Maria Angela Andrade Martins
ReligionRoman Catholic

Alberto Joao Cardoso Goncalves Jardim, GCIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [a??b??tu ?u???w? ????d?], (born February 4, 1943 in Santa Luzia, Funchal, Madeira Island) is a Portuguese politician who has been the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal, since 1978. He is currently among the most controversial politicians of Portugal.
Contents

1 Early years

2 Politics

3 Controversies

4 Other affiliations

5 Decorations

6 Published books

7 References


Early years

Jardim was born on Madeira Island in 1943, son of Alberto Goncalves Jardim (d. 1954) and wife Marceliana do Patrocinio de Jesus Cardoso (Funchal, Sao Pedro, baptized 2 September 1909 ? 29 July 2006). He went to Coimbra in order to study at the local university, and he lived there for over a decade as a student. He was awarded a degree of Licentiate in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra in 1973, with a final grade of 11 (out of 20).

Jardim became a high school teacher. He was also director of the Instituto de Emprego e Formacao Profissional da Ilha da Madeira (Employment and Vocational Training Centre of Madeira Island). As a journalist, he was director of "Jornal da Madeira", and wrote for different Portuguese newspapers and magazines.
Politics

He was one of the Founders[citation needed] of the then Popular Democratic Party (PPD) in May 1974, a month after the Carnation Revolution, together with Francisco Sa Carneiro, Francisco Pinto Balsemao, Joaquim Magalhaes Mota, Carlos Mota Pinto, Joao Bosco Mota Amaral, Antonio Barbosa de Melo and Antonio Marques Mendes, and co-founder of its Madeiran branch.

First elected in 1978, Alberto Joao Jardim has since then been successively elected President of the Regional Government of Madeira. He is a member of the:

Council of State of the Portuguese Republic as the President of the Regional Government of Madeira

State Defense Council of the Portuguese Republic

State Internal Defense Superior Council of the Portuguese Republic

Homeland Security Superior Council of the Portuguese Republic.

He is one of the longest-serving, democratically elected leaders of any jurisdiction in the world.

Alberto Joao Jardim is also a member and ex-Vice President (2000?2001) of the European Union Committee of the Regions. He is Honorary President of the European Summit of Regions & Cities.

He is the founder and a member of the Assembly of European Regions. He was Vice-President of European People's Party.

On 19 February 2007, he resigned his office in protest against the new law on regional finances enacted by the national government of Jose Socrates. Due to his resignation, early elections had to be scheduled, which he won easily. The national government, nevertheless, announced that the law wouldn't be changed.
Controversies

A controversial personality, Jardim is usually seen as an outspoken populist, who is infamous for his often outspoken remarks about his political opponents, from left to right, including several journalists. He has been compared to politicians like Jean Marie Le Pen and Hugo Chavez. This has led to both controversies and formal accusations.[1]

As Madeira's democratically elected political leader for over 30 years, he has many supporters who view him as a responsible and proactive governor, particularly well regarded in the Archipelago of Madeira proper. Despite his confrontational, explosive and sometimes impolite personality, Jardim has claimed many benefits and privileges for Madeira, helping the region to improve in several fields throughout the years it has been under his leadership.

However, it must be noted that the European Union assistance to its ultra-peripheral regions, which includes the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, has played a major role in the region's development - Madeira's development has been massively aided by structural and cohesion funds allocated by the European Union to the regional government.[2]

In addition, Jardim's government of the autonomous region was financially supported, decade across decade, by massive public debt creation and wild over-expenditure.[3] An even more surprising scandal was reported in September 16, 2011, when Portugal's central bank said Madeira island had under-reported its debt since 2004, putting further pressure on the country to meet deficit targets under an international bailout. An evaluation conducted by the Bank of Portugal of Madeira's accounts showed it failed to report EUR1.1 billion ($1.53 billion) in debt from 2008 to 2010 alone. The Bank of Portugal called the omission grave, adding it doesn't know of any similar cases in the rest of the country.[4]
Other affiliations

He was a fan of C.S. Maritimo, a sports club from Funchal. In 1997 he tried to join together the three biggest teams from Funchal in one unified and governmental team. Then the popular Maritimo’s supporters denied that intention in a big demonstration.