The deputy in Congress and general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, has filed a formal complaint in the Secretariat of the Cabildo of Lanzarote against the president Oswaldo Betancort for "the repeated breach of the agreement of the Board of Spokespersons", approved unanimously in the Plenary Session of July 11, 2023, which establishes that the ordinary sessions must be held on the last Friday of each month at 09:00 hours.
Corujo denounces that "Betancort has systematically violated this agreement, convening the plenary sessions on dates and times that coincide with her parliamentary activity in the Congress of Deputies, which has prevented her from attending the Cabildo due to schedule incompatibility." “My representation in the plenary session is the result of a democratic mandate. What Oswaldo Betancort is doing is preventing me from exercising it, silencing the candidate of the Socialist Group and avoiding political debate,” she stated.
The deputy also recalls that the approved plenary calendar was adopted in accordance with article 72.3 of the Organic Regulations of the Corporation and article 46 of Law 7/1985, on the Basic Regulations of the Local Regime, and that any modification requires an agreement of the Plenary Session and a hearing of the Board of Spokespersons. “This is not an oversight or a scheduling error. It is a deliberate and constant maneuver to make a group that has the same representation as his in the Cabildo invisible,” she states.
Corujo accuses the president of acting “with political cowardice, shunning public debate and using his position to prevent the exercise of my right as an elected councilor.” Furthermore, she warns that "this attitude constitutes a violation of fundamental rights", specifically the right to political participation recognized in article 23 of the Spanish Constitution.
“He is using the institution as if it were his property and acting with a total lack of democratic ethics. But the Cabildo is not his. It belongs to all the people of Lanzarote, including those who voted for the Socialist Party,” Corujo emphasizes.
The Socialist Group demands "immediate compliance with the plenary agreement and that the sessions be held on the established date and time, guaranteeing respect for institutional plurality and the democratic exercise of all elected officials and warn that if this is not the case, they will be forced to take other measures."