"It is not time to talk about names but to talk about programs, because if it is not so, it seems that those who praise their own postulates do so for other interests that escape me."
We have all witnessed the auction of names that swarm to take charge of the direction of the Canary Coalition on the island of Lanzarote. A coming and going of names, all valid, no doubt. Valid in their daily tasks and performing a decisive work with greater or lesser media display.
There has been talk of many names, from the poetic and affectionate "I like Migdalia", from our colleague Marci Acuña, as well as the reaffirmation that Pedro San Ginés made to that opinion article in subsequent statements.
Yesterday, without going any further, I was present at a coffee meeting, in which the suitability of our colleague David Rocío de San Bartolomé taking the reins of the party was questioned, Olivia Duque in some statements hinted that she was also running for such a position, even some colleagues have mentioned my name as David de la Hoz's successor. The name of Echedey Eugenio, current councilor of the Cabildo, or that of Samuel Martín from Arrecife, or that of our current Minister of Tourism, María Teresa Lorenzo, and many more names are also heard...
It is clear that there are many valid people in our formation to occupy that responsibility, the responsibility of steering a ship that, by all accounts, and I refer to the electoral results, is in need of setting a new course so as not to be dragged by the storm that looms on the regional political horizon.
I believe that the discussion is another, and that turning point was brilliantly defended by our colleague Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Councilor for Economy and Finance in the municipality of Teguise, in statements recently made to a media outlet. I cannot agree more with what his words defended, which was nothing other than, before acclaiming anyone, we should put aside the philias and phobias of this or that and listen before speaking.
I have not had access to any program and I do not know if there is one from any of the candidates who subtly postulate themselves as leaders in relation to the future of our political formation on the island. Basic issues such as modifying our statutes to accommodate or not other formations with which we have common interests, what measures to promote to create an increasingly strong nationalism on our island in accordance with the new times, what line we should adopt to confer on Lanzarote in terms of environmental sustainability for our island development and also in terms of tourism, what position we adopt in relation to vacation tourism that is coming upon us by an increasingly large group of those who visit us, what patterns to install to ensure well-being and social cohesion in our land, what models to adopt to innovate and grow with the aim of improving as a society, how to claim our needs in terms of health, from the necessary equipment that avoids tedious trips to the unfair waiting lists in which patients have died, "waiting" to be treated. How to fix or modify the PRUG of the Chinijo Archipelago, which prevents the logical development of our island of La Graciosa and La Caleta de Famara, as its inhabitants continue to suffer with forced resignation an unfair territorial discrimination in all respects.
And why not? Make available to our citizens mechanisms for the disapproval of certain policies that are marked from a global vision of the Canary Islands for local execution in Lanzarote.
In short, I don't want to talk about names, I want to talk about programs, because if it is not so, it seems that those who praise their own postulates do so for other interests that escape me.
We must meet within the party and agree on programs for these and other issues of interest, and set a clear line of work that I am sure will abound in the objective of achieving a stronger and better represented party with the sole interest that the family of those of us who make up the Canary Coalition, we are worthy of representing and fighting for the interests of our land and our people, because the destiny of Lanzarote depends on it.
Given the above, I have come to the conclusion, and I will not tire of repeating it, that a new political thought in this direction is essential.
This position does not endorse any bad intention towards our party, and with this I assure you that we want and are willing to collaborate in all areas. But collaboration must be based on equality, understanding and mutual progress.
Sometimes, not only does it disappoint us but it also leads us to serious meditations that our land is perceived in the rest of the Canary Islands as an aggressor, as a stone in the shoe for the repeated demands... That's what it is.
As a European president said: "Time is running out and we can lose it. We must act. The situation does not allow us to wait for the ideal moment: broad and constructive dialogue is necessary today."
Oswaldo Betancort, @OswaldoBetancor
