Senator and former President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, was elected this Sunday as the new Secretary General of the Canarian Coalition after having obtained the support of 93.5% of the delegates who participated in the VII National Congress of CC, which, as a consequence of the security measures imposed by the pandemic, has been held in a semi-presential manner and with telematic connection from all the islands.
After the count of votes cast, Clavijo's candidacy, the only one presented at this congressional event, obtained the support of 272 delegates and the rejection of 13, while 6 voted blank. Fernando Clavijo replaces José Miguel Barragán in the position, who was re-elected in the last National Congress held in 2017 and who then announced his decision not to continue.
In his first speech as Secretary General of the Canarian Coalition, Fernando Clavijo dedicated his first words to those who have lost a family member due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to those who have suffered or are suffering the consequences of the disease, as well as to healthcare workers for their commitment and dedication.
He also thanked the delegates for their support and trust, promising to take on the challenge of "fighting for a better Canary Islands" and maintaining the party's hallmarks: "Nothing and no one above the acronyms", and especially to the outgoing Executive and José Miguel Barragán, "a hard-working, tireless, party-oriented, committed and fighting man".
David Toledo from Lanzarote, Secretary of Organization
In his speech, the nationalist leader announced that the party's youth organization will assume, for the first time, the Secretariat of Organization, which will fall to David Toledo, until now Secretary General of the Nationalist Youth of the Canary Islands. "It is not a bet on the future; it is a bet on the present and the confirmation that our organization is a project of commitment to the Canary Islands that does not understand generations," he said.
Likewise, the new national secretary general of CC assured that in these moments of uncertainty the Canary Islands needs "more than ever" a nationalist party that defends the rights conquered and that serves as a "wall of contention" against the "abuses" and the "abandonment" of the Government of Spain, especially in the face of the migratory crisis or "disdaining" and "dismantling" the REF and the Statute of Autonomy.
Fernando Clavijo made an analysis of the results of the last elections in which, while the Canarian Coalition increased the number of supports, there was a formation of pacts "with the sole objective of throwing out CC, without a common project or an aspiration for a better Canary Islands; only with the desire to end Canarian nationalism". "However, far from dividing and weakening us, they have made us stronger," Clavijo remarked.
The new Secretary General of the Canarian Coalition insisted that the Canary Islands needs a party that "takes care and worries" about it, that "never bows its head" and that defends the islands "every day", and all this facing the "complicit silence" of parties that "ask for the vote of the Canarians and then bow their heads when we are ignored; incapable of demanding, fearful of claiming and allowing the Canary Islands to be abandoned in its worst moment".
Clavijo emphasized that this "contempt" is only resolved by reinforcing the position of CC in Congress, since "the only thing that can help us as an archipelago is the parliamentary mathematics, the strength of the votes of the Canarian Coalition, which will allow us a better and fairer treatment".
In turn, he assured that the Canarian Coalition will work from now on to articulate a social majority that defends the archipelago and to continue demonstrating the usefulness of the nationalist party as the "great wall of contention" against the "abuse" of Madrid, "raising its voice to defend the Canary Islands in all areas where necessary".
Finally, Clavijo stressed that there is a "great job" ahead for each and every one of the 25,000 members who represent tens of thousands of people who placed their trust in the Canarian Coalition, and added that the work carried out by this congress, with the participation of 330 delegates, "will allow us to continue working to make the legacy we inherited greater, adapting the life of the party to the new times, to continue growing a formation that has marked the history of democracy in this land".
