Coalition Canaria announced this Monday that it has reached an agreement with the PSC on the new electoral system, eliminating "the last obstacle" for the approval of the reform of the Statute of the Canary Islands. Under the agreement, the two political forces accept that the electoral caps be lowered, already in the elections of May 2007, going from 6 percent to 3 percent in the autonomous constituency and from 30 percent to 15 percent in the island constituency to have representation; secondly, that an autonomous list be created; thirdly, that a law of the Canarian Parliament develops the electoral system; and finally, as a transitional provision, that the current system be maintained until its renewal.
The president of CC, Paulino Rivero, stated this afternoon that the agreement occurs because for his party "the priority is self-government" and although there are aspects that the nationalists do not like, Rivero says that "the most important thing is that the Canary Islands improve their competitive conditions".
The spokesman for the Coalition insisted that his party "has opted to prioritize and reinforce the capacity for self-government of the Canary Islands" and once an agreement has been reached with the socialists and the Mixed group on the scope of competence, the electoral system takes a back seat.
Specifically, Rivero detailed that the Statute guarantees the recognition of the ultraperipheral nature of the Archipelago, the recognition of archipelagic waters, competence in interurban air transport and the management of ports and airports, progress in the control of External Health, and the shielding of the Ref.
In that sense, Rivero announced that he has given instructions to the regional deputies of CC to request the meeting of the drafting committee for the reform of the Statute "and close the matter". Regarding the PP, which repeatedly in recent dates had assured that the socialists would end up "swallowing" the electoral reform, he indicated that he hoped that the text would finally be supported.
The CC proposal for article 17 of the Statute, referring to the Electoral Regime, proposes that "a law of Parliament, approved by two thirds on the initiative of its members, will regulate the electoral regime". This, however, is a point of friction between nationalists and socialists, since the PSC demands that it be approved by an absolute majority, while CC would be willing to reach three-fifths.
CC proposes that the number of deputies not be less than 60 or greater than 76, that the electoral districts be of an autonomous or island scope, and that in the island districts, at least, El Hierro will have 3 seats, 7 Fuerteventura (where the PSC proposes 8), 15 Gran Canaria, 4 La Gomera, 8 Lanzarote, 8 La Palma, and 15 Tenerife.
In the transitional provision, this distribution of deputies is maintained, which belongs to the current electoral system, but the aforementioned reduction of the caps is already included, which according to the agreement will be applied in the next elections.
ACN
