The PSOE of Lanzarote has denounced "the lack of justification for the suspension of the Plenary Session of the Island Council and has demanded urgent explanations from the president, Oswaldo Betancort, for blocking the main space for political debate on the island at a time of maximum social and economic urgency."
The general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, has responded firmly to the statements made by Betancort, who assured in a press conference that he did not want to be “involved in wars of one and another” within the government group. “The only war here is that of a president incapable of governing and afraid of political debate. The only insecurity that justifies the suspension of the Plenary is his: political, institutional and personal”, Corujo stated.
The socialist leader recalled that Lanzarote is experiencing an unprecedented housing emergency, a water crisis that affects dozens of towns and a tourist saturation that overwhelms island resources. “And in the face of this scenario, Oswaldo Betancort responds by paralyzing the Cabildo, suspending plenary sessions and renouncing leadership. There is no external threat or real conflict that justifies this decision. What there is is a president who does not want to give explanations or assume his responsibility”, he denounced.
Corujo also stressed that there are clear legal reports and rulings from the Supreme Court, such as that issued by the Third Chamber of the Contentious-Administrative on February 23, 2004, which expressly advise against the use of plenary sessions of local institutions to approve symbolic declarations such as the one that the Popular Party intended to promote, by declaring the President of the Government of Spain persona “non grata”. “They knew it. They knew it was inappropriate, useless and legally unfeasible. And instead of acting responsibly, they chose to generate an artificial conflict that has ended with the suspension of a legitimate Plenary Session”, he criticized.
From the PSOE they insist that Oswaldo Betancort has once again put his image and the balances of his fragile government pact before the interests of the citizens. “Whoever is not capable of ordering his own government group, much less can lead an island like Lanzarote”, Corujo pointed out.
The deputy also wanted to make it clear that the PSOE does not fear debate or block it: “There are others who convene the plenary sessions in a calculated way to prevent my attendance or reject our initiatives with the excuse that they are repetitive or do not correspond to the Plenary”.
“When what is needed is management, leadership and dialogue, Oswaldo Betancort responds with spectacle, blockades and irresponsibility. Citizens do not deserve a president who turns the Cabildo into a scenario of internal conflicts instead of solutions”, he concluded.
