Photos: Sergio Betancort
"We are going to rebuild an Arrecife that we can all be fully proud of". This is how the new mayoress of the capital, Ástrid Pérez, has spoken in the investiture speech she offered after taking the baton of command of the city, in a plenary hall packed with the public. "And there are no magic recipes to achieve the challenge we have ahead, only work and loyalty to Arrecife above all else", she said.
Pérez, who has become mayoress of Arrecife with the support of the PSOE, NC and Somos, has insisted that "it is a firm and stable government pact for the next four years and legitimate and democratic", thus clearing up the doubts generated in recent days by the turn in the negotiations of the regional pact for the Canarian Government, which cast doubt on its continuity.
"And we assume the duty to govern for all citizens without distinction of political affiliations or colours, a united, solid and cohesive government", she said.
Echedey Eugenio's reproaches to Ástrid Pérez: "You deceived me"
"Ástrid, you deceived me. You know it and I know it", said CC candidate Echedey Eugenio, who dedicated part of his speech to recalling that CC was the most voted force in the elections to the Arrecife Town Hall, blaming Ástrid Pérez for having "placed them in the opposition". "You have won, those are the rules of the game, it is democracy and we are aware of it, but we are going to scrutinise this work. We are not going to fall asleep and we are not going to allow payments of political favours and perks for a pact and to keep you in an armchair", added Eugenio, who received both applause and boos throughout his speech
However, the nationalist has made available to the new mayoress of Arrecife the nine CC councillors "to build a future for Arrecife". "Ástrid, you are going to count on us. I told you on Saturday. At that time I thought that in the government group and now I offer it to you from the opposition", said Echedey Eugenio. "And I say it truthfully, you can believe me", added the CC councillor
The PSOE conveys its "loyalty" to the new mayoress
For their part, the PP's government partners have shown their "loyalty" to the new mayoress, especially the PSOE. "You will find in the PSOE a loyal partner, committed to returning to this institution the essential stability to undertake the challenges that Arrecife faces", said José Alfredo Mendoza, who was number two of the PSOE in the elections behind Eva de Anta, who also made a call for "understanding" to the rest of the political forces.
"Arrecife faces challenges that will require everything; Arrecife has to recover the lost time and, above all, be able to firmly demand the treatment that corresponds to it from other administrations that have ignored its needs for many years", said the socialist, who listed projects in which he considers that other institutions have "systematically failed", such as the Conference Centre, the improvement of the sanitation network or the attention to the elderly and dependents.
The interventions of the government partners of NC and Somos
As for Nueva Canarias and Somos Lanzarote, although they ran in alliance in the elections, their two councillors have intervened separately representing their respective political parties. "Arrecife is starting a new journey despite the ups and downs and the bizarre period experienced in recent years that have meant that our city is a clear example of what should not be done in politics", said the NC councillor, Armando Santana,
"Let's not forget that we are here to represent those who get up very early every morning to work", said the councillor, who has pledged "to try to dignify politics and public management in the Town Hall". "We owe it to the citizens who went to the polls and even more so to half of the population who abstained in the electoral process", said Armando Santana, who believes that "the most important challenge is to make these citizens trust their representatives again". "But not with words, but with deeds", said the NC councillor.
"Somos Lanzarote was four years in the opposition. Borja Rubio and Lidia Pla showed that we have a clear city project and now is the time to carry it out", said the new councillor of Somos Lanzarote, Elisabeth Merino, who highlighted the "effort" of her party to "generate an almost concentration pact in favour of responsibility and with the firm objective of generating stability. "And we are convinced that this agreement is the creation of strong and solid foundations for this city to be reborn", she said.
Podemos asks for "high-mindedness" from the new government and extends a hand to it
"Most of the population of Arrecife with the right to vote does not trust this institution, does not trust that what is done and decided here will serve to try to alleviate the real problems of society", said the councillor of Lanzarote en Pie-Sí Podemos, Leticia Padilla, who believes that the "spectacle that some parties have given these days to get government pacts does not help to improve this perception".
Thus, the councillor of Podemos has stated that the priority should be "to regain the trust of the people with actions and deeds and has asked for "generosity and high-mindedness" from the new government of the capital, to which she has extended a hand from the opposition to "work for a common good". "Because Arrecife and its people are in a state of absolute abandonment and it is urgent to start working", she said.
Reversing the "critical" situation of the city and governing "for all"
The new mayoress of Arrecife, Ástrid Pérez, has had a special memory for the deceased former mayor Cándido Reguera and has said she is aware of the "enormous responsibility" she assumes "I have not come to reap applause, but to try to solve the problems, activate Arrecife, unleash all its potential and turn it into a city of reference, she said.
Although the popular leader has said that she did not want to "generate false promises of immediate solution to the serious problems of Arrecife", she has stated that her objective is "to reverse the critical situation that the city is experiencing after the deterioration of public services in recent years", said the new mayoress, who has pledged to govern "for all" citizens. "We do not want second-class, third-class citizens, much less the eternally forgotten", said Pérez, who, in this sense, has said that the government group will bet "firmly" on "the protection of the most vulnerable people".
She also indicated that they will work "for the economic development of Arrecife as the third capital of the Canary Islands and for measures that favour investment and job creation". "The Town Hall opens today a new mandate, a new stage in which there are a thousand things to do and, as I have said on more than one occasion, in this mandate we will have to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent. We are going to have to rebuild Arrecife from the most basic", she said.
"It's not going to be an easy task"
To this end, she pointed out that it will be necessary to "update and order the administration itself, the basic public services in each of the neighbourhoods, seeking solutions to housing problems and reactivating commercial activity, starting with the reopening of the maritime avenue", which she said will be one of the first measures she will adopt as mayoress of the city.
"It is not going to be an easy task and the road ahead will be long. The climb will be uphill but we have full confidence in the staff of the institution and with their hand and with their professionalism we will recover the dignity and make them feel proud of this city", said Ástrid Pérez. "And the government that we form today imposes today as an obligation and main bet the instruments of organisation, an essential tool to mark the pace and direction of the city", added the new mayoress, who said that for this she hopes "to have the collaboration of all the members of the corporation". "We will listen, reflect and make decisions, but we have the obligation to act", she said however.
"I know it will be a complex mandate, with many difficulties, some that we cannot even foresee, but I am completely sure that with planning, effort and perseverance, we will achieve what the citizens expect from us. Let's establish a point and apart, let's write a new page in the history of Arrecife. I want Arrecife to attend to hope again, to recover optimism, to believe in our possibilities and in our potential, that citizens feel the city as their own home, that they feel involved in a common project", said Ástrid Pérez.
The new mayoress of Arrecife has finished her speech making a call to the different political groups. "Let's not forget that above political ideologies are people and love for our wonderful city", she concluded.
Councillors who have taken office
In addition to Ástrid Perez, María Jesús Tovar, Eduardo Placeres, Ángela Hernández, Vicente Herbón and María Rosario González have taken office this Saturday as councillors for the PP, while José Alfredo Mendoza, Cristina Duque, Tomás Fajardo, Nova María KirkPatrick and Roy Alfonso González have done so for the PSOE. All of them will form the government group together with the two councillors of NC-Somos Lanzarote, Armando Santana and Elisabeh Merino.
On behalf of CC, Echedey Eugenio, Jacobo Lemes, Abigail González, Carlos Alberto Alferez, David Jesús Toledo, Encarnación Páez, Román Maciot Cabrera and Rosmen Rayko Quevedo have sworn or promised their positions as councillors, pending María Teresa Lorenzo, who was number two on the CC list and who has not attended the plenary session of the Town Hall due to a medical problem, according to her colleagues.
Finally, Leticia Padilla, Ester Gómez and Leandro Rafael Delgado have taken office as councillors for Lanzarote en Pie-Sí Podemos.
As for the Bureau of Age, a transitional government body that is established to preside over the constitutive session of the town halls, it was composed, in addition to the secretary of the institution, by the PSOE councillor Tomás Fajardo, being the oldest councillor, and by the youngest councillor of the plenary, who is the CC councillor Román Maciot Cabrera.
