Vecinos Unidos came out this Tuesday to the media spotlight, lashing out against Somos Lanzarote, the formation with which it reached an electoral agreement by virtue of which Andrés Medina became a councilor in Arrecife. They accuse Somos of carrying out a "persecution in the media" against Medina and affirm that "this whole soap opera gives the impression that it is heading towards the rupture of the agreement between both forces." They respond in this way after several media outlets published that Somos has opened an information file on Medina, before which they defend that their councilor has "scrupulously complied" with what was agreed and challenge the formation to "communicate" that "rupture" to them. "Communicate it to us officially and we will each continue on our own," they sentence, accusing Somos of failing to comply with the agreement and "forgetting about the councilor."
The Guarantee Commission of Somos is collecting information about the councilor in that file, opened "among other things, for the discipline of vote," sources from the party pointed out. Faced with the publication of that information, Vecinos Unidos affirms that it has not received "communication of the opening of any information file related" to that voting discipline, although they were informed in August of the opening of "a file with the argument that his 'public actions undermined the sovereignty of the Somos Lanzarote Assembly and other bodies that emanate from it.'"
"If that information file existed, and it had not been communicated to the person concerned, it would be a very serious irregularity that should be purged in the Courts of Justice," Vecinos even threatens in its statement. They also assure that they appealed that file, that the communication of the appeal sent by mail was returned to them and "two and a half months later, they have neither stirred nor requested a hearing with Andrés Medina," "as their statutes order."
"We always consult the meaning of the vote"
In its statement, Vecinos Unidos also refers to the discipline of vote, affirming that it has "always" consulted Somos Lanzarote on what should be "the meaning of Medina's vote." "The gentlemen of the Somos Lanzarote Coordination must have a bad memory, or simply do not check their emails," they affirm. Vecinos Unidos threatens here, again, to go to court, assuring that it has "all the documented, registered and dated evidence in case it is necessary to go to court now."
Thus, in their note they list the different occasions in which they would have addressed the party to communicate to them what the councilor should vote "in each and every one of the points of the plenary session" and, they add, "to respect the discipline of vote." However, Vecinos Unidos defends that they "never" received a response. "It was ridiculous that Medina had to look at Councilor Borja Rubio, at every moment, to know whether to raise his hand or not in each point that was voted on," they affirm. On the other hand, they explain that Vecinos Unidos sent several initiatives to Somos so that they would "defend" them, and they also "never responded."
They affirm that they "breach the agreement" and criticize Rubio's "succulent salary"
For Vecinos Unidos, it is Somos who "breaches the agreement" reached between both parties. This is what they emphasize in their statement, in which they recall that the participation of Andrés Medina was agreed upon "in all the plenary sessions that deal with matters referring to the commissions in which he is part" and that "the predisposition of understanding, sharing and dialogue of the ideas and proposals existing in the course of the legislature" would be guaranteed.
At that point in their statement, they also criticize the salary of the spokesperson for Somos in Arrecife, Borja Rubio. They assure that with that agreement it was possible for Somos to have its own group in the City Council and that the spokesperson "would collect his succulent salary."
They "forgot" about the agreed points
"They very soon began to forget about the agreed points," criticizes the formation, which assures that Somos "forgot to take the signed Document to their assembly." "They eliminated Andrés Medina from the Group's Whatsapp; they "forgot" to invite him to the assemblies in which the issues to be taken to the Arrecife Plenary were going to be debated; they refused to defend the Initiatives of VECINOS UNIDOS (violating the Agreement); they distributed the Arrecife Commissions without counting on Andrés Medina; they went to talk to a lawyer, to ask her how to kick Medina out of the council; they opened a group account in Arrecife, without the joint signature of Andrés (something that is being studied legally); they made their Motions without Medina's signature; and as a last resort they don't even greet him," they list.
Thus, they insist that Medina "has scrupulously complied with everything that was discussed in the Agreement" and "has not spoken in the media again". "There has been no will to break on our part," they affirm. "If all this effort is to expel him from Somos, they can save themselves the work: they cannot expel someone who has never been affiliated. Of course, any irregularity in the processes that they say they have opened will be appealed as the Law dictates," they conclude.
