The elected president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo (PSOE), and the one who has presented herself as the next mayor of Arrecife, Ástrid Pérez (PP), have tried to dispel any doubts this Monday about the future pact that they have sealed for both institutions, ensuring that they will give "stability" throughout the mandate. "We commit for four years," Corujo said when presenting the alliance that unites them with Nueva Canarias and Somos Lanzarote, and from which they have not yet revealed how the distribution of areas will be carried out.
"This is a strong, solid pact," Ástrid Pérez also stressed, thus insisting on the same message that those who will be her partners in the capital have highlighted. "We are serious. We are going to be here for four years and we are going to give the stability that citizens are demanding," added the island coordinator of NC and elected councilor of the capital, Armando Santana.
In addition, they all agreed on the need for a "change", explaining that this is what has led them to "put aside" the ideological differences that separate them and to look for "common ground". "We had to end an unsustainable situation that has been going on for ten years," stressed the general secretary of Somos Lanzarote, Paula Corujo, referring to an agreement that will definitively leave Pedro San Ginés out of the presidency of the Cabildo, after almost a decade in office. And it is that although San Ginés lost the elections against the PSOE, his party has tried until the last minute to seek the support of the PP to present a motion of censure.
San Ginés' defeat conditioned the pact for the PP
Ástrid Pérez has expressly referred to this, who has recognized that "from the beginning" her preferred pact was with Coalición Canaria. However, she explained that the fact that Pedro San Ginés lost the elections to the Cabildo changed the situation, since in the island Corporation the election is direct, unlike what happens in the town halls. "When it was raised that a motion of censure was necessary, things got complicated," detailed the island president of the PP, referring to the shield that it would have meant for San Ginés, since a councilor cannot present more than one motion of censure in the same mandate.
"It is not easy to use the motion of censure as soon as the legislature begins," she specified, pointing out that "the legislature is very long", that they have already had serious differences with San Ginés in the past and that, given what could happen in the coming years, they could have been seen with the "impossibility of removing that president".
In addition, she also agreed with her new government partners that citizens voted for a change not only in Arrecife, but also in the Cabildo, where they gave the victory to the PSOE after nine years of Pedro San Ginés' mandate.
"The persecutions and the tension are over"
"We are talking about transparency, we are talking about dignifying the institution, we are talking about clarity, about consensus. The persecutions and the tension are over", promised the next president of the Cabildo, who, like Ástrid Pérez, has been received with applause upon arriving at the Municipal Archive room of Arrecife where they have offered the press conference.
Militants and supporters of the four formations have been present in what they have described as "an important day", which has been lived in a festive atmosphere of ovations, hugs and smiles for the announcement of an alliance that will transform the island political landscape, leaving CC relegated to govern only the municipalities where it obtained an absolute majority, which were Teguise and Tinajo. The only option that remains beyond those municipalities is that of Haría, where Marci Acuña won the elections but without a sufficient majority and exposed to being ousted by a pact between the PSOE and the party of José Torres Stinga, which, however, has not yet been closed.
"We are going to get the city of Arrecife moving forward"
Regarding the Arrecife City Council, Ástrid Pérez has reiterated that she is "very concerned" about the current situation of the city and has also defended the need for a change. A change that in her opinion was not represented by CC, since it also governed with the PSOE. "We are going to get the city moving forward," she defended. In addition, she has confirmed that her first decree as mayor will be to reopen the maritime avenue to traffic, as she has been demanding since this road was semi-pedestrianized.
This is one of the points that she would have already agreed with the PSOE during the conversations they have held since the elections on May 26. "We have talked a lot, we have dialogued a lot," said both Pérez and Loli Corujo, who say that they have found coinciding lines that have allowed them to agree on a program for both institutions.
"We have to put Arrecife where it belongs. With a Cabildo that is once again collaborative, Arrecife will become the third capital of the Canary Islands. That is the objective," promised the general secretary of the PSOE on the island and the next president of the Cabildo.
As for CC, which in Arrecife did win the last elections, Ástrid Pérez has revealed that last Friday she received a call from the nationalist candidate, Echedey Eugenio, offering her the Mayor's Office. However, contrary to what Coalición Canaria has stated this Monday, the president of the PP has denied that this issue or the possibility that San Ginés would resign from the Presidency of the Cabildo were raised at the negotiating table.