Mallorca: Prohens claims PSOE polls drove Puente out

In Palma, Mallorca, on Wednesday 4 November, Balearic Islands president Marga Prohens calls Óscar Puente’s resignation “disgraceful”: she claims election polls commissioned by the PSOE drove the Spanish transport minister out. Puente announced his departure on Tuesday and will not stand in the 29 November election. Prohens asks why he did not resign after the Adamuz accident or last week’s rail crash in Urda.

Why Prohens questions the timing

Prohens says José Félix Tezanos, head of Spain’s Centre for Sociological Research, carried out polls in recent days. She claims the PSOE ordered them to assess the accident’s effect on the election, rather than focus on establishing what happened and preventing a repeat. She alleges the findings prompted the party to push Puente to resign. He did not leave for the victims or to take political responsibility, she says.

Prohens also criticises Francina Armengol, speaker of Spain’s Congress and secretary-general of the PSIB, for congratulating Puente. She says MÉS MP Vicenç Vidal hugged him.

Her criticism turns to Sánchez

Prohens says the deeper problem is Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who appointed Puente and kept him in the job. She argues that Sánchez should resign too.

Carlos Cuerpo, Spain’s deputy prime minister and economy minister, has been named as Puente’s replacement. But Prohens says changing the minister will not solve what she sees as a choice between managing government and chasing publicity.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com