The president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira is the speaker of the regional parliament of this autonomous region of Portugal.
The position was created in 1976 after the newly enacted Constitution of Portugal, which followed the 1974 Revolution, granted legislative autonomy to the Azores and Madeira archipelagoes, thus establishing the Portuguese Autonomous Regions and the respective governing bodies. It is analogous to the position of president of the Legislative Assembly of the Azores and both are equally 14th in the Portuguese order of precedence, being this the highest ranking position of any regional governing body.
Following the first Madeiran regional elections the same year, which resulted in the Democratic Peoples' Party (now Social Democratic Party) having the majority of members of parliament, Emanuel Nascimento dos Santos Rodrigues was elected the first president of the Legislative Assembly. The position has since been held by members of the same party, which has never lost its majority. The current President is Rubina Leal, the first woman to hold the post.
Two of the presidents were physicians (Nélio and Miguel Mendonça), two were/are lawyers (Rodrigues and Tranquada Gomes) and one (Leal) a Sociologist before taking office.
List of presidents
The colors indicate the political affiliation of each president.
Term Portrait Name Term of office PartyStartEndDurationLegislative Assembly of Madeira (1976–present) I1Emanuel Rodrigues (1943–2019)19761984Social Democratic II III2Nélio Mendonça(1930–2009)19841994Social Democratic IV V 3Miguel Mendonça(born 1935)19942015Social Democratic VI VII VIII IX X XI 4 José Tranquada Gomes(born 1958) 2015 2019 Social Democratic XII5 José Manuel Rodrigues(born 1960) 2019 2025 CDS – People's Party XIII XIV XV 6 Rubina Leal(born 1966) 2025 present Social Democratic
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