Lorena Socas (PP) and Alejandro Herrera (CC) are the candidates to replace Antonio Hernández (PP) as Mayor of La Guancha today, where PSOE and PP govern. The uncertainty regarding the vote of María Auxiliadora Marrero, the popular councillor, and the doubts generated by the socialist councillor, María José García, increase the chances of a shift in the Presidency of the Town Hall in La Guancha. The municipal Corporation consists of six councillors from CC, another six from PP, and one from PSOE.
Although consulted sources maintain that they will try to avoid it “until the last moment”, the Popular Party is close to losing a Mayoralty this morning. The vote of its councillor María Auxiliadora Marrero is essential for the PP. The councillor maintains disagreements with her fellow group members, especially with the one who has been mayor for the last decade, who dismissed her from her responsibilities in the municipal government last February. This was done due to “lack of confidence” and after the councillor recovered from a long absence, when differences became more pronounced, although she remains a member of the PP. Her continuity in the La Guancha Town Hall occurs despite the previous mayor, who will participate in the vote today because he has not yet resigned from his position.
PSOE does not comment
The only socialist councillor has been the first deputy mayor since the start of the term and the acting mayor during the last week, since the Plenary was informed of the resignation of Antonio Hernández. Although after that plenary session María José García confirmed her support for the continuity of the PSOE-PP pact with Lorena Socas as mayor, she assured this newspaper yesterday that the direction of her vote “will be known tomorrow (today) in the plenary”.
Failed censure attempt
The nationalist Alejandro Herrera Luis admitted that “last year” his political party attempted to promote a motion of no confidence, for which CC needed the support of the only socialist councillor, a member of the government group in the PP-PSOE pact, but “there was no response from her, nor did she show much interest”, assured the candidate today. He also said he was aware of the “certain discontent” prevailing in the Popular Group of La Guancha with María Auxiliadora Marrero, but “the uncertainty will remain” until the vote this morning.
“We have not closed a pact with anyone, we are going to vote for ourselves. Full stop”
Canarian Coalition will vote for its candidate in the plenary session that will start at nine this morning. Francisco Linares, the island’s secretary general of CC, confirmed: “We have not closed the pact with anyone, we are going to vote for ourselves. Full stop”. The mayor of La Orotava also stressed that “we will vote the six of us, whatever the others do I have no idea”.
The tie favours the PP
In the event of a tie, because one of the plenary members does not attend –a possibility not ruled out–, Lorena Socas will become mayor as she is the candidate of the Popular Party, which was the most voted in the elections held in May 2023, with just 174 votes more than the Canarian Coalition candidate.
The nationalists would thus regain the Mayoralty of La Guancha which they held for 16 years, between 1999 and 2015, with María Elena Luis Domínguez as the first mayor of the municipality since the first municipal elections held in 1979.
The resignation of Antonio Hernández as mayor of La Guancha happened for “personal reasons”, as he has defended until now. It is noteworthy that the now councillor (said he will resign when the municipal government is formed) maintains significant differences with the regional and island presidents of his party: Manuel Domínguez and Lope Afonso, respectively. Differences that include María Auxiliadora Marrero, with whom he disagreed prior to her absence and for whom he unsuccessfully proposed to the higher bodies of his party a consensual exit from the group and the municipal government.
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