“It was Coalición Canaria that opened the door to Vox governments in Lanzarote”
“Who are they trying to fool if they govern with Vox in three Canary Island municipalities, and the first was Teguise?”
The PSOE of Lanzarote has denounced in a press release the "absolute lack of coherence" of the Canarian Coalition, whom they hold responsible for allowing Vox to enter the island's institutions and for normalizing the presence of the far right in the Canary Islands.
"It was Coalición Canaria that opened the door for Vox to enter Lanzarote. And they did it in Teguise. From there, let them not try to pin the medal of moderation on themselves now," said the spokesperson for the PSOE of Lanzarote, Cristina Duque.
In this regard, Duque has been blunt in recalling that this is not an isolated case: "Coalición Canaria publicly says that it is a centered and responsible party, but then it makes deals with Vox to govern. They are governing with Vox in three Canary Island municipalities, and the first was Teguise. That is the reality. Who are they trying to fool?"
For the socialist spokesperson, CC's position is "unsustainable in democratic terms": "You cannot go before the cameras talking about consensus, autonomism, stability... and at the same time hand over areas of government to a political force that denies gender violence, that attacks the rights of LGTBI people, that points the finger at the migrant population, and that questions the very self-government of the Canary Islands. That is not centrality. That is whitewashing the far right. That is double standards."
"CC has decided that anything goes as long as they govern"
The PSOE of Lanzarote has warned that these pacts with Vox "are not a local anecdote or a tactical exception, but a conscious strategy by Coalición Canaria to remain in power at any cost."
Thus, "Coalición Canaria knows perfectly well who Vox is. No one can feign surprise at this point. Even so, they have had no problem giving them institutional space. They have decided that in the Canary Islands it is acceptable to govern with the far right," Duque pointed out.
According to the socialist spokesperson, that decision has real effects on people's lives: "When CC seats Vox in a municipal government, it is saying that it is acceptable to govern with those who cut rights and build their discourse on the basis of social hatred. That conditions public policies, conditions the social climate, and normalizes messages that were previously unthinkable in the institutions of this land."
“Let them not come now to lecture us on democratic responsibility”
Cristina Duque has reproached CC for trying to present itself now as a brake on extremism when the facts say otherwise: "The picture is very simple: Coalición Canaria agrees with Vox to govern. Period. And they have done it here. Let them not come now to give lessons in democracy and moderation when they have already sat down with the far right to divide up offices."
For the PSOE of Lanzarote, the citizens deserve clarity: "Coalición Canaria was the one who opened that door in Lanzarote. It is Coalición Canaria who legitimizes Vox in the Canary Islands. And it is Coalición Canaria who will have to explain to the people why they did it," Duque concluded.
