The acting mayor of Maracena, the socialist Berta Linares, presented her resignation this Friday and, therefore, her resignation from re-election as mayor. Linares, who will also leave her councilor’s record, has been implicated as an alleged inducer in the case of the kidnapping of a local councilor.
The mayoress, who had resisted resigning during the electoral period, has now indicated that she is taking “a step back to facilitate the government pact in Maracena” and “prevent the dismantling of its public services from governing by the ultra-right.”
The acting mayor has announced her decision a week after assuring that she would remain as a socialist candidate for the investiture despite the case opened in the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) that analyzes her possible link with the kidnapping, last February , by councilor Vanessa Romero, also from the PSOE.
Although Linares’s list was the most voted in the last 28M elections, it failed to revalidate its absolute majority, which is why negotiations with the rest of the parties to form a government are currently underway.
In this context, the Popular Party seeks to reach agreements with formations of the center and the right to make its candidate Julio Pérez mayor and prevent the Socialists from leading the Maracena City Council again.
In the municipal elections the PSOE obtained 7 councilors compared to the 6 of the PP, a small difference that the popular ones could save based on pacts. The majority is in 11 seats and there are other parties that could have the key, such as Para la Gente with three councilors, Vox with two, I want Maracena with another couple of councilors and Maracena Conecta 23 with one.
In the event that the Populares fail to reach an agreement with the rest of the parties, the Socialists, as the most voted force, would revalidate the mayoralty with a simple majority in a second vote in the Investiture Plenary.
Faced with this panorama, he has decided to leave his leading role so as not to become the “excuse” for “the right and ultra-right” to arrive at the Maracena City Council.
Berta Linares has affirmed that media exposure and personal wear and tear have led her to “put the objectives of continuing to build a better Maracena before any personal objective”, after this municipality has been in the media spotlight in recent months for the kidnapping, on February 21, of the then socialist councilor Vanessa Romero at the hands of Linares’s sentimental partner at the time and who remains in provisional prison as the alleged material author of the kidnapping.
The mayor reiterates her innocence and recalls once again that she is not “even investigated or charged, nor have I been called to testify yet, but in the face of so much noise and malicious hoax I prefer to step aside and let a new team work for the good of my city ” . “I trust that sooner than later Justice will finally show my innocence and make it clear that we have suffered a dirty and unfair campaign, both politically and personally.”
As acting mayor until the 17th, she has said goodbye to her councilors, stressing that they have “worked too hard to leave this immense effort on the air” and “she will sacrifice her candidacy to preserve all that they have advanced.” “Thanks to all those who believed and believe in me; the project for Maracena must continue,” this statement concluded.
