Carlos Espino has presented his "irrevocable" resignation as general secretary of the socialists in Lanzarote, after three years in charge. This was announced at a press conference offered this Friday, in which he explained that "it has been a very difficult decision, but made some time ago." Now, the regional Executive will appoint a Management Committee, which will be in charge of maintaining the party until the celebration of the next Congress, scheduled for next year.
As Espino explained, the decision was made at the beginning of last week, but he had not announced it before "because he wanted to convey it first, among others, to the regional leadership of the party." The reason for his resignation is due to the criticism he has received from some colleagues in the media. "I am not going to enter this shameful and petty war", Espino specified, who considers that the internal issues of the party should be debated "within the party" and, therefore, describes the position of these colleagues as "reproachable and disrespectful." "I find it petty and despicable," he added.
Thus, preferring "not to enter a debate in the media", because it would go "against" his principles, Espino has preferred to resign. "I am not going to enter into that type of confrontation," pointed out the now former general secretary of the socialists who, yes, has made it clear that he is not abandoning the PSOE: "I will continue to be a socialist militant, because I have it in my DNA."
Espino has acknowledged that making this decision has been "difficult", since he would have liked to submit himself "to the judgment of the delegates at the next Congress". "Those who have forced this situation have deprived their colleagues of the legitimate right, for example, to have voted against, to have judged the action of this Executive. They have acted against democracy," he said.
A "solo" decision
The now former general secretary of the socialists has pointed out that when he took office he did so with the commitment to become "the first servant of the party." "Something that I have tried to do all this time. And precisely, he added, "the best service I can provide to the party, to avoid entering this petty and sterile war, at this time, is to step aside."
In this sense, Espino has stated that it is the first time he has made "a decision alone." "All my decisions have been adopted by the island Executive, no matter how much some want to distance themselves", Espino pointed out, who took the opportunity to apologize to the colleagues of the Executive. "Because with my dismissal, they cease and this decision I have made alone, but I understand that the party must remain united in the face of the next Congress and the best climate must be created to debate (?) and I do not want to start that process with a broken Executive, in which some colleagues support one thing and other colleagues the opposite," he added.
Likewise, Espino has apologized for the occasions in which he has not been "up to the circumstances" and "for those decisions that, although they have been shared, for some may have been forced or some have created some problem, as I know it has been."
Legal action
Espino has recalled moments experienced by the party in these three years, such as the "Unión" operation, the breaking of pacts and the "shameful" motions of the Cabildo and the Arrecife City Council. "During all this time I have had the closed support of the entire Executive," said Espino, who has conveyed his gratitude to his colleagues for letting him go "through these three very hard years until today" leading the party. "The only thing I can have for the PSOE is great gratitude," he added.
Precisely, Espino, who was the complainant in the first phase of the "Unión" case, has not denied having received pressure "at certain times", but has pointed out that in "those difficult and complicated situations, from the PSOE I have only received support, understanding and affection." "There are things that I have been able to do because I have had the support of my colleagues behind me", he added.
In addition, in this sense, Espino has announced at the press conference "some other possible legal action starting in January", although he did not want to reveal anything else about it.
A change in the organization
This announcement of resignation comes after local elections, which meant a real blow for the PSOE on the island last May. At that time, as he himself has specified, Espino considered his resignation, but decided to continue with his responsibilities. "From that moment, I had the first temptation to resign and in fact I put my position to the decision of my colleagues. But against that was the fact that the party was going to be immersed in a new electoral process in the very near future, and I understood that the results of that process also had to be the responsibility of the current leadership," he said.
After that, last November came general elections, in which the PSOE recovered support on the island, going from being the third force in the local elections to the second in the general elections. Results with which Espino himself said he felt "satisfied", although they meant the loss of more than 6,000 votes to the Senate and more than 7,000 to the Congress compared to the previous general elections.
After the general elections, Espino showed his willingness to continue in office, at least until the Congress that is scheduled to be held next year. However, in recent weeks, some militants and public officials of the party had initiated an internal movement to promote a change of organization, since they considered that the best thing was for Espino to leave office and arrive at the Congress with a management committee. And that debate, taken by some to the media, is what has finally led Espino to present his resignation.
