EFE
The Canary Islands Government announced yesterday that it will not approve the bill creating the autonomous police force until it has negotiated the text with the Socialist group in the regional Parliament, given that it lacks sufficient majority in the Chamber.
The Governing Council, which was scheduled to address the preliminary draft of the autonomous police law yesterday, has decided to send the text to the State Security Policy Council for it to issue a mandatory report.
While this procedure is being completed, for which the Government estimates a period of two months, the Executive will take the opportunity to negotiate a final agreement on the police model with the socialists.
The Secretary of the Governing Council, Antonio Castro, stated at a press conference that both the Executive and the Canarian Coalition are very clear about the model of autonomous police force they want, "but we have to count on other political forces".
Antonio Castro insisted that the bill cannot yet be sent by the Government to the Canarian Parliament because "we are still in a previous phase", now we are starting to walk".
He pointed out, however, that the Executive maintains its intention for the law to be definitively approved in Parliament throughout 2006.
Castro stressed that the Government intends to maintain negotiations with the Socialist group, which supports the Executive in a minority of the Canarian Coalition and that therefore the text currently handled and sent to the State Security Policy Council is not the one that will finally come out as a bill.
The State Security Policy Council is made up of representatives of the Ministry of the Interior and the autonomous communities in whose statutes there are powers of autonomous police, and its report on the preliminary draft is mandatory but not binding, Castro Cordobez indicated.
By requesting this report "the Government has initiated a very preliminary procedure", so it is still too early to specify what the police model will be, its number of troops or whether the agents will be newly created or transferred by the State, said the Secretary of the Government.
Therefore, the financial sheet for the autonomous police force cannot be defined either, although a budget item will be reserved for 2006, taking into account that the law is expected to be approved next year.
The financial sheet will not be specified until the number of troops is known and whether they will be newly implemented or transferred, said Castro Cordobez.
He added that the figure of 4,000 troops that had been advanced is "estimated", since it is too early to define it.
Antonio Castro Cordobez specified that in any case the complete deployment of the autonomous police force with all its powers is planned for a period of ten years, because it will be implemented little by little, while it is being provided with resources and funding.
Among the immediate plans of the Executive are not only to negotiate the bill with the socialists, but also to talk with other parliamentary forces, with experts, with groups and with other institutions with police powers, such as the town halls.
Before the bill can reach Parliament, a report from the Advisory Council will also be mandatory, Castro specified to emphasize that the procedure is in its first steps.
