Rubina Everlien Berardo (born 11 November 1982) is a

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

n and Portuguese politician and pundit who was a

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 Form ...

(PSD) Member of the Assembly of the Republic for the constituency of

between

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and 2019. Since February 2018, she is one of the vice-presidents of her party's parliamentary group in the Assembly of the Republic.

Education

She is an economist by training, having studied at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

(BA politics and economics, 2003), the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

(M.Sc. European politics and governance, 2004), and at the

Portuguese Military Academy The Military Academy (AM; ''Academia Militar'' in Portuguese) is a Portuguese military establishment, which has the ability to confer educational qualifications equivalent to a university. It develops activities of teaching, research and suppor ...

, where she studied

information warfare Information warfare (IW) is the battlespace use and management of information and communication technology (ICT) in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. It is different from ''cyberwarfare'' that attacks computers, software, and ...

and competitive intelligence.

Civil service career

In Madeira

Before being elected as a member of the Assembly of the Republic, Rubina Berardo worked as civil servant for the Regional Government of Madeira in the department of European Affairs and External Cooperation since December 2005, a post she still holds.

German diplomatic career

Between 2012 and 2015 she became deputy counsellor for economic affairs and press in the German Embassy in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Political career

Before being elected to the Assembly of the Republic, Rubina Berardo was an active member in the national and regional Social Democratic Youth, having run, unsuccessfully, for president of the latter in 2011. In October 2015, she was elected member of the Assembly of the Republic, for the constituency of

, and assumed membership of the parliamentary committees for European Affairs and for Budget, Finances and Administrative Modernization. In representation of her constituency, Rubina Berardo has integrated the Commission of Inquiry to the process that led to the sale and settlement of Banco Internacional do Funchal ( Banif). Four years later, in July 2019, the

n newspaper, JM-Madeira, announced that Berardo was not running for re-election to the Assembly of the Republic. The decision for non-re-election to the Portuguese Parliament came from PSD-Madeira's president,

Miguel Albuquerque Miguel Filipe Machado de Albuquerque (born 4 May 1961) is a Portugal, Portuguese Monarchism, monarchist politician of the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the current Presidents of the Regional Government of M ...

, and the regional party's Political Commission as a result from the negotiations made with PSD regarding the

Closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...

Political views

LGBT rights

Contrary to the mainstream ideology of her party, Rubina Berardo voted in favour of

LGBT adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children or adults by Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child or adult (stepchild ad ...

, and

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

during her term as member of the Portuguese parliament.

Abortion

Despite her stance on certain

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

, Rubina has been a member of

pro-life movement Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the legal ...

throughout her political career, having supported the movement "Sociedade Civil da Madeira Junta pela Vida" (Madeira Civil Society Unite for Life) in Madeira which campaigned No in the Portuguese abortion referendum in 2007.

Euthanasia

Following the proposals submitted, In February 2020, by left-wing ( PAN, Left Bloc,

Socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

and Greens) and liberal ( IL) parties to the Assembly of the Republic on the legalization of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

Berardo published an opinion article in JM-Madeira highly criticizing such proposals. In accordance with her Lutheran and pro-life background and beliefs, Berardo argued that the parties involved in these proposals are forcing their own agendas on the issue and failing the promises made of more

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. She further questioned that parties' proposal regarding what is the precise moment when they consider that someone gives up their

human dignity Dignity is a human's contentment attained by satisfying physiological needs and a need in development. The content of contemporary dignity is derived in the new natural law theory as a distinct human good. As an extension of the Age of Enlighten ...

and thus must be subject to the process of euthanasia, because society, medicine and the state have failed such individual. In her view, such moment does not exist since human dignity is inalienable.

European Union affairs

Berardo advocates for Portugal's further integration in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, while an increasing Madeira's political autonomy from the Portuguese central government. As a

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

she believes that social-economic development in Portugal is only achievable by giving regions more political power, instead of centralizing political power in

Foreign affairs

Berardo, again not following party's voting policy, became the only PSD member of parliament joining left-wing parties PAN, Left Bloc,

and Greens on the vote condemning

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, a member of

CPLP The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (; : CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth or Lusophone Community (), is an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portug ...

, for "maintaining and applying

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

"Double Subsidy" affair

April 2017, Portuguese media denounced the fact the parliamentarians representing the

Autonomous Regions An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree o ...

were benefiting from a duplication of subsidies to cover their air fare costs. Parliamentarians representing

and

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

were entitled not only to benefit from the subsidy available to all tax residents of the Autonomous Regions, as well as to benefit from the subsidy made available by the Portuguese Parliament to cover transportation costs. Unlike most of her colleagues, benefiting from the double subsidy, Rubina Berardo made clear to the press, that she never applied for the subsidy made available to tax residents, since it was her understanding that the subsidy provided by the Portuguese parliament is more than enough to cover the air fare costs relating to the travels to her

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. Out of the 12 Parliamentarians representing the Autonomous Region, Rubina Berardo, was the only one to opt to apply for one, of the two, available subsidies.

Columnist

Since her involvement in politics, Berardo has contributed as pundit for Portuguese magazines and newspapers such as '' Sábado'', ''

Diário de Notícias () is a Portuguese weekly newspaper published in Lisbon, Portugal. Established since 1864, the paper is considered a newspaper of record for Portugal. History and profile ''Diário de Notícias'' was first published in Lisbon on 29 December 1 ...

', Diário de Notícias da Madeira'' and '' JM-Madeira'.''

Personal life

Rubina holds

dual citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

, from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and (Germany). She is mother to only one son, from her previous marriage, Ben. Her mother, Ilse Berardo, is a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian, responsible for the German-speaking Protestant Church on Madeira, and her uncle

Joe Berardo José Manuel Rodrigues "Joe" Berardo GCIH, ComIH (born 4 July 1944), is a Portuguese and South African businessman, investor, and art collector. According to Portuguese magazine '' Exame'', he had an estimated net worth of €598 million in 2 ...

, a Portuguese businessman,

stock investor A stock trader or equity trader or share trader, also called a stock investor, is a person or company involved in trading equity securities and attempting to profit from the purchase and sale of those securities. Stock traders may be an inve ...

, and

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

, is one of the wealthiest people in Portugal.

Honours

Medal of Gratitude, In March 2022 the Armenian Ambassador to Portugal, Garen Nazarian, awarded Rubina Berardo this honour for the "principled stance on human rights issues, in April 2019, which led to the approval of the vote, by the Portuguese Parliament, which recognised the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

perpetrated by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

" in 1915.

References

External links

Official Biography from the Assembly of the Republic {{DEFAULTSORT:Berardo, Rubina 1982 births Living people People from Funchal Portuguese women activists Portuguese anti-abortion activists Portuguese Lutherans Portuguese people of German descent German people of Portuguese descent Alumni of the University of East Anglia Alumni of the London School of Economics Women members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 13th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians 21st-century German women politicians 21st-century Portuguese women politicians