"I am withdrawing from the political front line for the time being." That is the announcement made this Thursday by the CC councilor in the opposition, Pedro San Ginés, during the press conference to which he summoned the media, to talk about what "will not be" his "immediate political future."
Specifically, what he has stated is that he will not be "head of the list" for the next elections. "I am a risky candidate for the organization," he stated, referring to his judicial situation, with several open criminal cases, one of them for serious corruption crimes and another about to go to trial.
However, when asked by the media, he later clarified that this does not mean that he will leave his position in the Cabildo, nor his position as deputy spokesperson, nor his release and the salary that comes with it. He does not even rule out going within the body of some list for the next elections. "This press conference is to convey where I will not be. Where I will be, I don't know. I will be at the disposal of the bodies of my party. I could go on one list, on two, or on none," he responded.
When asked by this media outlet about whether the open pulse in CC had anything to do with his decision, where at least two other candidates were vying to head the list for the Cabildo, San Ginés refused to answer. Initially, he allowed the question to be formulated and even gave way to it; but upon hearing it, asking him if the fact that Oswaldo Betancort seems to be sounding strongly to occupy that position had not influenced him, he alleged that he was not going to answer questions from La Voz de Lanzarote.
"It doesn't mean I give up"
“This does not mean in the slightest that I give up, nor that I give in or give them the reason. I will not be very far away, but playing a role in a different scenario,” San Ginés maintained in his appearance, in which he lashed out against the PSOE, against “certain media outlets” that have reported on his judicial cases, and also against the instruction itself and against the UCO reports.
“Even if they lose the war, they have won the political battle of disqualifying me as a candidate. But by my own decision, not because the polls give me as finished,” San Ginés added, who insisted that he is not leaving “politics, but the front line.”
“A public official must worry about the needs of the people, and it is clear that I have not been allowed to do that for too long. I have to defend my innocence against all the attacks to which I am subjected by land, sea and air,” he alleged, pointing out that the objective of his decision is also to "attenuate that noise."
"The system fails like a fairground rifle"
When talking about his judicial situation, Pedro San Ginés has even accused “the party of (Carlos) Espino and Loli Corujo” of using “that which progressives call the sewers of power, putting state structures at their service.”
“I do believe in justice, I have to believe,” he began by pointing out, to later add that “the system fails like a fairground rifle.” In those “failures” he has included the judicial instruction of the cases that are being followed against him, and even “the reports of the UCO.”
“They have nothing against me. My conscience is immaculate. They have no case and they know it,” he defended, referring to the case in which he is being investigated for embezzlement, bribery, document forgery, money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization, among other crimes.
According to San Ginés, he has been branded as “rich, thief, criminal, falsifier” and “even instigator of hitmen,” and has linked his judicial situation to the "terror" that he believes they have of him as a candidate. "They know they have no case and that is why so much bombardment, in pursuit of an objective that they have achieved today," he added.
"The public must be tired"
San Ginés began and ended his press conference apologizing, first to the citizens, “for dedicating so much time to issues that are not” for which they “elected” him. In this regard, he pointed out that the public “must be tired” of this issue. “Also of my press conferences,” he added.
In addition, he has apologized “for all the mistakes probably made”; as well as “to the people who may feel disappointed” with his decision. “People who support me and encourage me to continue,” he assured, specifying later that he was referring to “friends” and even “Cabildo workers.”
“I also apologize for my character, surely improvable,” added the one who was president of the Cabildo for a decade, as he himself wanted to emphasize in this appearance.
Finally, he thanked his family –“I also want to put an end to their suffering with this decision,” he stated- and “an exceptional friend,” to whom he already referred in his last press conference. “I have been lucky that life crossed her in my path,” he wanted to highlight, stating that she is being his "support" in these moments.
