The general secretary and minister of the PSOE Canarias, Ángel Víctor Torres, announced this Thursday that he will propose to the Regional Committee the designation of Jerónimo Saavedra Acevedo as Honorary President of the organization.
"A recognition worthy of someone who has been everything in politics, including regional secretary of the party for almost 20 years," the PSOE highlighted in a press release. The proposal will be one of the resolutions to be submitted to the consideration of the Regional Committee that will take place this Saturday, February 3, starting at 10:30 a.m., at the Hotel Escuela de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on whose agenda also includes the debate and vote on the management report of the Regional Executive Commission.
First president of the autonomous government, minister and mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, among other responsibilities, Jerónimo Saavedra, who passed away last November at the age of 87, also held the general secretariat of the PSOE Canarias in different stages during the 70s, 80s and 90s.
"He was a colleague who knew how to see beyond the temporary limits of the moment and project towards the future a large part of the Canary Islands that we know today. A contribution that has meant the highest levels of autonomy and self-government of our islands, a stage with a deep and marked socialist seal," highlights the proposed resolution that the Canary socialists will vote on this Saturday, for whom "a large part of what we are today as a region, as a society and as a party we owe to him."
The same document recalls one of the most recognizable passages of Jerónimo Saavedra's investiture speech as president of the Government of the Canary Islands in 1983: "The Canary Islands are possible. It is not just about the Canary Islands as a new political reality, as a regional unit, but that the Canary Islands are possible as a distinct economic, cultural and social reality." To add: "Words full of ambition, hope, unity and desire for progress that are still valid."
From that shared pride, from the "remembrance of his person, in homage to his memory and in gratitude for his legacy and his example," arises the initiative that Jerónimo Saavedra becomes the Honorary President of the party. A recognition that, after its approval, will be shared with Juan Negrín López, president of the Government during the Second Republic and who died in exile in 1956.