SOCIALISTS ACCUSE REGIONAL GOVERNMENT OF UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Monday March 8 2010

THE SOCIALIST Party charged the regional government with interfering in parliament and undermining the constitution on Monday.

by JAMES TWEEDIE

Socialist Party (PSOE) regional MP and spokesman Santiago Pérez (pictured) accused the governing Canarian Coalition (CC) – Popular Party (PP) alliance of excluding members of his party from meetings of Parliamentary commissions.

Speaking at his regular Monday morning press conference, he alleged that PP health minister Mercedes Roldós had influenced Parliamentary Health Commission chairwoman Rosa Rodríguez – a fellow PP member – to refuse to reschedule a meeting which two PSOE members could not attend.

The PSOE pointed out that flexibility it was considered good parliamentary practice

Socialist MP Domingo Fuentes Curbelo had postponed last Friday's meeting of the Environment Commission which he chairs at the request of environment minister Domingo Berriel.

Mr Pérez said that he had sent a letter of protest to Parliamentary president Antonio Castro and that PSOE health spokeswoman Lola Padrón would be meeting Rosa Rodríguez

He said that the PSOE “cannot allow the PP and CC to control the commissions,” adding that “government inaction” had put the health of Canarians at risk through a failure to ensure the safety of the food imports on which the archipelago depends.

Mr Pérez further alleged that other commissions – including education – were not meeting as they should do due to of ministerial interference.

The PSOE spokesman went on to lambaste Canarian president Paulino Rivero for calling on residents to “rebel” against national airline Iberia's imposition of a surcharge of up to €70 Euros on passengers checking in more than one bag – even if they remain within the company's 23 kilogram limit.

Mr Pérez blamed the extra charge on privatisation of baggage handling services and the deregulation of the air travel industry.

He said that CC member Mr Rivero's call for rebellion was “ridiculous” and took the opportunity to remind reporters that the president had recently been accused of misusing an emergency services helicopter as his personal aircraft.
The PSOE has called for the 50 per cent subsidy on flights to the mainland for Canarian residents to be extended to cover the extra bag handling fee.

Mr Pérez, who is also a professor of constitutional rights at the University of La Laguna, further claimed that the Canarian government's proposed referendum on a new Citizen's Participation Law was against the constitution.

The PSOE has dubbed the bill 'Plan Riveretxe' after former Basque Country president Juan Jose Ibarretxe's attempt to legislate for greater regional autonomy.

Mr Pérez called on the CC and PP to respect the constitution and its mechanisms, which he said were “a pact of liberty, respect and solidarity between the Spanish people.”

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