The president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort (Coalición Canaria), intervened this Thursday morning in an extraordinary plenary session at the request of the PSOE to clarify what details he knew about the award of a permanent position to the son of Ángel Vázquez (Partido Popular) as a cleaner in the Centers for Art, Culture and Tourism.
At the beginning of his speech, Betancort argued that the "only mistake" of the former CEO of the Centers, Ángel Vázquez, "was signing a minute that was passed to him" and assured that "he has accepted his mistake by leaving his position".
However, Vázquez did not leave his position; he was dismissed by the current president of the PP of Lanzarote, María Jesús Tovar, after the legal report requested by Betancort to the Cabildo determined that he should have recused himself on the same day that his son appeared on the provisional list of admitted candidates in the process to obtain a permanent cleaner position, but he did not.
To determine the validity of the entire process and whether this administrative act should be annulled, the Centers will have to carry out a review of their own initiative, which must be initiated by councilor María Jesús Tovar, as the new head of the Centers for Art, Culture and Tourism, as explained by Betancort.
Both the PSOE and the councilor of the Mixed Group, Óscar Noda, have accused the president of not dismissing Vázquez after learning of the conclusions of the report and of leaving that decision in the hands of his government partner, the Partido Popular. "I don't know if I am a person who makes decisions, but I am a person who builds a team and that is very important in life," Betancort defended.
The president assured that when he had the report "on his desk," he forwarded it to the vice-president Tovar, his government partner. "I do not have an absolute majority, I am bound by a government pact," he stated, adding that "not a second was lost for the vice-president to make her decision." The representative of Coalición Canaria praised the attitude of the popular president: "I did not need to make decisions."
He also used his speech to reproach the PSOE, a party in opposition, for its press criticism for not dismissing Vázquez. "They went from Gladis [Acuña] to Ángel Vázquez," Betancort said, referring to the criticism he received for appointing the former mayor of Yaiza disqualified for corruption as head of his presidency cabinet for an annual salary of 57,000 euros.
The duty to recuse oneself in a process where a direct relative participates
The spokesperson for the Socialist Group, Ariagona González, informed at the beginning of the extraordinary plenary session that the criticism of Ángel Vázquez's actions stems from the then CEO of the Centers' participation in the procedure in which his son obtained a permanent position and has recalled the duty of public officials to abstain in these procedures where direct relatives participate.
Meanwhile, she insisted that she does not question the right of a public official's relative to contract with the public administration following the relevant legal channels, but rather the PP's actions.
For his part, Betancort defended Ángel Vázquez's son: "This young man must have a clear conscience because he went through a selection process. Of fifteen positions, thirteen were filled, he passed all the tests. Therefore, the selection process exists and the minutes exist, and therefore, he has a job thanks to his effort and not because his father achieved absolutely anything."
The head of the first insular corporation addressed the CEO's son: "You have your job thanks to your effort and your sacrifice, and be a worthy defender."
Meanwhile, Betancort insisted that part of the report says "the company's own modus operandi must be changed." "This can happen to any of us, and no one has said this, everyone goes for malice and example," he added.
"If we don't know about abstentions, there is legal advice for each entity. When in doubt, it should be agreed upon," recalled the councilor from the Mixed Group, Óscar Noda. "Once the list of admitted candidates is seen, the decision to abstain should have been made," Noda insisted.
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