The Plenary of this December 1st has not been just any Plenary. Minutes before starting, the general secretary of the Lanzarote socialists, Manuel Fajardo, presented in the registry of the Cabildo a letter of resignation with the signature of the socialist councilors, with the exception of Miguel Ángel Leal. It was the first sign that this was not going to be just any Plenary, after the breaking of the Government pact.
Miguel González has been the protagonist in the first minutes, in which he has apologized to the president of the Cabildo, Inés Rojas, for the controversial letter in which he described Mario Pérez as "Agent 007", and Inés Rojas and María Isabel Déniz as "Bond Girls", under the acronym of the Socialist Party of Lanzarote last Wednesday. The dismissed councilor, has specified: "I am not a sexist or an abuser", thus responding to the statements that Mario Pérez made on the morning of this Friday on Radio Lanzarote, in which he insinuated that "it starts with writing and ends with abuse", a sentence that Miguel González has harshly criticized.
A few minutes after Inés Rojas accepted the apologies - "although they arrive late", the president indicated - the two councilors of the PIL, María José Docal and Plácida Guerra, left the session in protest of the management and behavior of Coalición Canaria, supporting in this way the Socialist Party.
In this first plenary after the break, the Socialist Party has supported the Government Group in all the proposals, "in the sense that they are going to support the commissions that have been held so far", Inés Rojas explained. However, in the turn of the motions, the first differences have been appreciated. The PSOE has requested the Government Group to postpone the contracting of the works for the duplication of the Tahíche road, thus supporting the motion presented by Pedro Hernández, spokesperson for Alternativa Ciudadana. A position contrary to that of Coalición Canaria, which has not been able to move forward due to the absence of the PIL.
Another of the tense moments between the parties of the former government group arose around the restitution of the Councilor for Fisheries, Marcos Páez. Carlos Espino has described the resolution of the Government of the Canary Islands as "absurd". "We had informed the president of the existence of witnesses and when this resolution was known, I found a press release from the Cabildo, in which I did not feel represented, which closed the incident and questioned the environmental agents." Carlos Espino could not avoid comparing the restitution of Marcos Páez with the dismissal of Miguel González, alluding to the damaged values in each case.
After the celebration of this Plenary, the future of the First Institution is not at all clear. For the moment, they are working on the redistribution of the socialist councilorships: Territorial Policy, Environment and Historical Heritage, Health and Internal Regime, Industry, Commerce, Consumption and Crafts, Youth, Sports and Road Safety, and Education and Culture. Regarding the situation of uncertainty of the Government Group, for the moment, it is in the hands of Miguel Ángel Leal. In the event that the Councilor for Tourism disassociates himself from his party and continues in the Government Group, it would continue with a majority that would allow him to continue with the proposals until May 2007. The president of the Cabildo, Inés Rojas, has assured that she will "not tempt" Miguel Ángel Leal, although if he stays, "welcome he will be". "In any case, I am not very worried because what we take to Plenary is of interest to the vast majority, which makes it relatively easy to agree on it punctually", the president explained.
For its part, the Popular Party has declared that this resignation on the part of the socialists has been presented as an "announced break", and that the party will continue in the opposition. "What we are not going to do is add fuel to the fire in this situation of weakness of the Government Group, we are going to continue working in the same line", Loly Luzardo assured at the end of the Plenary.
