The courtyard is once again agitated in the Cabildo.
When hasn’t it been? Podemos is not going to support a budget that includes items for the circuit of the engine… If we add to this how rough the plenary sessions tend to be, and not because of the opposition but because of the bad relationship that Yes We Can maintain with the Government, it is no surprise that this link has been blown up in several occasions. This is part of the paripé that Podemos practices in all Canarian institutions.
Election tactics?
We can play to be and not to be as if the problems generated by the governments of which it is a part were not its own.
What scenario do you see in the insular government?
The closest repercussion is associated with the difficulties that the PSOE is going to have to carry out the accounts. It would be the first time in the history of the Cabildo that such a serious situation occurs… Our will is that this does not happen: CC is not going to allow the Island to run out of budgets, but first they will have to call us.
Does the stagnation that has been experienced in the last few hours change CC’s plans?
No… CC has spent the entire legislature offering agreements to the Government. Five months ago, for example, the president lost an important vote related to a budget modification for the motor circuit. So we told him to file a trust issue to support him, not bring him down. At this end of the mandate, we do not see it reasonable to provoke a radical change in the Government, above all because there would not be time to correct the number of errors committed.
And your plans?
Either. The easiest way to explain my situation is that of a yogurt with an expiration date, June 2023. That was my time. Fifteen years is a more than reasonable period to be in politics. What happened in 2019? That I was on the shelf of a supermarket and they kept me in the cold room. Going into opposition was legitimate, but many of the projects that were already underway were lost forever.
Before traveling to the future, there is a question associated with the positioning that Yes We Can used to send it to the opposition and that now places that formation in a position, at least, vulnerable: Is the same speech valid some times and not others?
I already said before that Podemos plays to confuse… In the end it has been shown that the only strategy that was proposed three and a half years ago was to throw Canarian Coalition of the Cabildo, which is the part that touches me, and of all the possible institutions. In my case, it is the only thing that united PSOE, Cs and Sí Podemos because over time it has been shown that there was no alternative plan. Nothing, there was nothing!
The expiration of which he speaks is only political, not ideological. Will you continue in the back room of the Canarian Coalition?
Yes, I am going to continue fighting in favor of CC… Those are the guidelines that Fernando Clavijo, from his position as general secretary of my party, and the Insular Executive have given me. I don’t want to err on the side of modesty, but I think one of the values I can boast of has more to do with my ability to work to generate ideas than with the charisma I may have… Now it’s my turn to put those proposals into the island program of the Canarian Coalition.
Rosa Dávila is running as a candidate to fight to preside over the insular institution. Will there be other alternatives for the vote at the end of the month?
[Casi no deja acabar la pregunta]. No, Rosa Dávila is the candidate because she has all the ingredients not only to be the first woman to preside over the Cabildo, but also to be a great president. Her management capacity is high, we are dealing with a person who talks, she knows how to build teams, she has a special chemistry with people… she is a woman prepared to lead Tenerife.
Other woman, Ana Oramasreturns to regional politics. How do you rate this reinforcement?
His political nose, said with all due respect, is very powerful and will help us achieve better electoral results. She wants to join the Parliament, not be in the administration, to participate quite actively in the parliamentary debate. Ani is used to working behind the scenes with political representatives who don’t think like her, and yet she is able to reach agreements that initially seemed impossible. If we take into account that politics is increasingly fragmented and polarized, she is the ideal person to build bridges in which dialogue appears at the extremes.
What has the Canary Coalition learned in the opposition?
The word is not arrogance… Now I can’t think of any, but it’s not arrogance [medita]. Politics is not just being in government, it can be done from the opposition, reinforcing the ties that CC has always had with the citizens and the territory. That is politics in its purest form. CC never sinned of pride, but it is true that in the years that we were in charge of the institutions, the dialogue with other formations was different. Now it’s time to seek agreements from another level and, honestly, I think that this can also be very useful for what has to come from now on. Citizens know that the Canarian Coalition continues to watch over the interests of all Canarians.
Even at the risk of falling into the grandpa chives dynamic, what would you do if you were offered a high position?
No, I would not accept [afirma con rotundidad]. If I wanted to do politics I would stay in the Cabildo because, in my opinion, it is the administration that offers the best balance between management and proximity to citizens. The Cabildo, without a doubt, is the place where if I wanted to continue in politics I would continue.
Did you have a good time on it?
There have been good and bad days, but in general I have enjoyed my stay at the Cabildo de Tenerife… My grandfather was an official of this institution and, therefore, being able to work from within on behalf of my Island has been a privilege [hace una pausa y apura un sorbo de café, su voz flaquea].
That insular vision has always been burned into his speech and, above all, management.
From the insular sphere, a nation can be built, but I consider it essential to have that insular perspective. At the time, Paulino made an attempt to federate the party even more to have a more Canarian or Canarian dynamic but, personally, I always had a much more insular feeling… I firmly believe in an insular vision of nationalism because the two things are compatible .
Taking advantage of the fact that the name of Paulino Rivero has just appeared in the conversation, what do you think of his more than possible arrival at the presidency of CD Tenerife?
Sounds good to me… It’s a risk that he takes personally because it’s not easy being in the box when the opponent scores a goal. The football It raises a lot of passions, probably more than politics, and I don’t know if it’s worth getting into that mess. If he feels like it, which I already say yes because he is a soccer fan, and he is convinced of the step he is going to take, we just have to wish him luck because he will be a good president for him Tenerife Sports Club.
Returning to the political scene pure and simple. Speaking of farewell, how would you like to be remembered?
What I would most like is for my children and my wife to say at some point that the time I dedicated to politics and took away from them was worth it… [vuelve el silencio, esta vez con una carga emotiva mucho mayor].
Are you going sad?
With regret? No. It is difficult to leave places, but in life I have made a few decisions. Most of the time associated with the stage I go to, not the one I come from… I don’t run away from places, rather I go to the places I want to be [corta su respuesta].
Will he let his sons go into politics?
I’m not a defender of all that legacy stuff, I prefer that they stay with the idea of ”what Dad did or Carlos did was worth it.” Politics has never been discussed at home, although many times mine have seen me worried about political issues. No, I don’t see them making a political career. His training and concerns go elsewhere [ahora sí sonríe].
Do you know that you are going to have to sit down at a few tables to negotiate agreements?
The party believes that I can be useful there because in the years that I have been in this I have learned many things and, in addition, I created good harmony with almost all the parties.
