After the experience of having shared government tasks in the council of Orense with Gonzalo Pérez Jácome, in return for retaining the Provincial Council, this Wednesday the provincial president, Manuel Baltar, admitted that, ahead of the 2023 local elections, “we are aware that we have to have an absolute majority (…), above all [to] show what governments of convenience served in some cases during this time». Those “governments of convenience”, as he has referred to the support they give to the DO leader in the city of As Burgas -after an impasse with the exit of that municipal executive- “in some of those councils they exploded”, Baltar has added, who has made it clear, with their words, that they do not want to repeat the experience.
The provincial leader has pointed out, in an appearance after the meeting of the governing board, that “there is a desire for politics” and to “face that May 28, 2023”, the date of the local elections, “with the highest expectations” , and the goal of «winning» and «governing». After ‘swallowing frogs’ like giving support to Jácome, with a mandate peppered with controversies -the last one, his attack on a union representative-, “make people from Ourense see”, he stressed, “that we have to bet on governments and candidates and solvent candidates, who are capable of governing by themselves».
This, he stressed, concerns “not only number one, but the rest of the candidacy”, which together must exhibit “capacity for connection and empathy with the neighborhood”. To the thread, he had previously been asked about the designation of candidates, starting with the city of Orense. Baltar has pointed out that what the president of the PPdeG, Alfonso Rueda, wants is for “the names of the number ones of the seven big cities to be known (…) before the month of August”; and in this sense, he has insisted that “we are in a position to comply with it.” Although “there was no mention of any process or local congresses.”
What Baltar has not done is give any names, although in a previous speech he has already dedicated words of praise to a potential candidate such as former mayor Manuel Cabezas. On this occasion, he has reiterated that he promised to have the 92 provincial numbers one before the end of the year, and on June 8 “we could give 71 of those names”, he has valued the work of the provincial electoral committee and the “power” of the organization.
Going into detail, he pointed out that in some of the towns congresses will be held to designate these candidates, with the “horizon” of September-October, since “they also demand a different treatment along with that of the city”; and in this regard, again without saying names, he has said that, of the 10 councils with more than 5,000 inhabitants, “in six it is already quite clear which one is going to be number one.” In the remaining four, “that it is not clear does not mean that five, six, seven people who could be number one are not identified.”
