There were no surprises. The plenary session of the Diputación de Orense, as planned, has rejected the request of the Galician socialists to request the resignation and disapproval of the municipal councilor and provincial deputy, Gonzalo Pérez Jácome, for the push given to a trade unionist during a protest for the urban transport strike, as the president of the institution, Manuel Baltar, had advanced.
In this way, the Provincial Council has not seconded the vote held a few weeks ago in the municipal plenary session of the Orense City Council, in which this issue did go ahead with the favorable votes of the PSOE, BNG, Ciudadanos and the former councilors of Democracia Ourensana, that add up to a majority. On that occasion, the Popular Party, a government partner of Democracia Ourensana, opted for abstention, which made it possible for the socialist petition to go ahead, a situation that has not been repeated in the provincial plenary session.
On this occasion, the PP has vetoed this proposal, as its provincial president, Manuel Baltar, had advanced yesterday, together with the non-attached Montse Lama and DO deputies and the proposal has not gone ahead as the votes of the deputies were insufficient of the PSOE and BNG for approval.
The popular ones see in this initiative “political opportunism” by the PSOE by presenting this issue again before the provincial chamber. During the debate on this point, the PP spokesman in the Ourense Provincial Council, Plácido Alvarez, criticized the PSOE “show” for “asking Jácome’s resignation in the Provincial Council” when at the same time they are negotiating “under the table his please to present a motion of censure to this government». “They don’t care about everything as long as they govern,” he settled.
The provincial president himself, Manuel Baltar, yesterday confirmed the rejection of this request, understanding that the plenary sessions must address “issues that have to do with the development of provincial powers that were not previously dealt with in the chamber of political representation.” In this case, he recalled that this matter had already been dealt with in the plenary session of the Orense City Council and that both the PP spokesperson in the city council and he had already pointed out that Jácome should “apologize”.
From the PP they insist that the party has already asked Jácome for a “public apology” for understanding that “he erred as a public representative, as mayor of Orense and as a member of the institution he represents and in an unjustifiable and objectionable act, and erred by not apologize for their behavior. Along the same lines, the non-attached deputy Montse Lama went further and criticized the “media circus and performance” of the PSOE for political interests.
On the contrary, PSdeG-PSOE and BNG, who voted in favor of the proposal, have once again charged against the PP of Rueda, Feijóo and Baltar who they hold responsible for the situation that the third largest city in Galicia is experiencing by supporting Jácome in front of the town hall. For the Socialists, the lack of interest of the popular to separate the alderman, was evidenced a few days ago with his absence from the meeting called by the Galician socialists in the Galician capital.
The socialist deputy, Rafael Rodríguez Villarino, has criticized that Jácome has not only not apologized but that “there is no political consequence” for his behavior against a trade unionist and has insisted that “there are more than enough reasons” to demand his resignation, after criticize the councilman’s continuous clashes with the police, officials, athletes, journalists or different associations in the city. Bernardo Varela (BNG), who has blamed the popular representatives for this situation, has asked how long “that understanding” will last, which he in no case considers “cordial.”
For the moment, the alderman has again refused to apologize. In statements collected by different media, he has indicated that “it is she” who has to apologize for the “reckless” way of approaching him “, with the megaphone. “The only thing I did was defend myself. The first to make a big mistake was her », he maintained.
