“Under the provisions of article 6.1.r) of the Organic Regulation of the Corporation, determine that the functions of the head of the President’s Government Area will be exercised by the Presidency.” It is the fourth of the eight points of a decree signed last Monday by the acting president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Peter Martinwith the endorsement of the Secretary General, Domingo Hernández, to lead the transition from his government to the one they have already set up in parallel –based mostly on 18 directors after the elections last May 28– Canarian Coalition and Popular Party that has the nationalist Rosa Davila at the head and Lope Afonso (PP) as vice president. A transition that, after the Martin’s unexpected resignation in Tuesday’s inauguration is unprecedented in the Island Corporation and sows some uncertainties.
However, on the same Monday this Decree was published and also the agenda, with a single point in each case, of two extraordinary plenary sessions for July 3, starting at 10:00 a.m. The first will give an account of the resignation as president of the leader of the PSOEwho headed the list with the most votes, and then the second will choose his substitute, in this case a substitute, since Rosa Dávila will be the first president in the 110-year history of the institution.
Martín announced his resignation right at the end of his speech that closed the constituent act for the 2023-2027 term. He did it “to facilitate the change of powers”, but the truth is that he also prevented the motion of censure that the CC and PP, who have already divided up the areas of government, were planning to present this Wednesday. It was going to be the second in history after the one that in 2019 made president precisely Pedro Martín against Carlos Alonso (CC). In addition, the also general secretary of the PSOE in Tenerife keeps this legal tool “intact” since the Regulation specifies that there can only be one in the entire mandate.
‘Hard Core’ by Pedro Martín
The now acting president left almost everyone with the changed foot Last Tuesday. His opponents and a good part of his. The initiative, after pertinent legal consultations, would have come from the hard core around him made up of Aarón Afonso –former insular director of Apoyo and in this new Decree appointed counselor of two areas until Monday– and Berta Pérez –first vice president and counselor of the Presidency Treasury and Modernization for four years and now with identical charges for this ephemeral period of seven days.
It is the first time that an elected president of the Cabildo de Tenerife resigns from his position. Therefore, a legal solution not applied until now is generated. The Secretary of the Insular Corporation has already convened a new plenary session, but not to debate the motion of censure as expected, but to proceed with the election of president.
The only item on the agenda is the “act of election and proclamation of the new Presidency as a consequence of the vacancy due to the resignation of the previous president.”
By resigning Pedro Martín and not presenting his candidacy, as he has already made public – with the addition that no other person other than him will do so for the PSOE – the procedure is that you can vote in the session to any of the heads of the list that appeared in the elections and aspires to the presidency. The system will be like that of the town halls; that is to say, candidacies are presented, they vote secretly and with a ballot box, and the one who gets the most support is chosen.
The plenary sessions are already called to account for Martín’s resignation and then elect Rosa Dávila
The decree of the Secretary General for this brief transition determines an organization and structure of the insular administration with the appointment of vice-presidents and advisers, but not insular directors. Its effects will extend “between the time of completion of the plenary session of constitution of the new Corporation and until the entry into force of the new corporate structure.” In other words, except for a capital surprise, between Tuesday, June 27 and Monday, July 3.
The shortest and shortest government
The shortest and shortest government team in the history of the Cabildo de Tenerife, at least for the moment, is made up of seven most trusted socialist men and women of Pedro Martín. An Island Council of concentration. The Decree names three vice presidents in this same order: Berta Pérez Hernández, Marián Franquet Navarro and Manuel Martínez Álvarez.
In addition, Berta Pérez will also serve as counselor for the Presidency, Finance and Modernization; Franquet will do so in the area of Social Action, Citizen Participation and Diversity, and Martínez in that of Roads, Mobility, Innovation and Culture.
For Aarón Afonso González, Municipal Cooperation and Housing remain, as well as Employment, Socioeconomic Development and Foreign Action. He also doubles as Javier Rodríguez Medina as responsible for Sustainable Development and the Fight against Climate Change, as well as Management of the Natural Environment and Security. The provisional organization chart is completed by Javier Parrilla Gómez (Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries) and Laura Castro Hernández (Education, Youth, Museums and Sports).
