Francina Armengol has been forced to reshape her candidacy for the regional elections after one of the independents she included has resigned after learning that she is a father by surrogate pregnancy. The Socialists of the Islands have sent a statement announcing that the decision to resign Oriol Lafau, who is ranked number six on the lists, has been taken for personal reasons.
Lafau is responsible for the regional mental health program, one of the aspects on which the socialist candidate wants to place special emphasis if she wins the elections. In a statement, the Socialists express their respect for the reasons alleged by Lafau and reaffirm their commitment so that the strategy of prevention and attention to mental health is one of the axes of health policy in the Balearic Islands. Remember that this is one of the decisions that were taken at the last Political Conference held by the Socialists.
The resignation comes after a forceful publication on Twitter by the Minister of the Presidency, Mercedes Garrido, against the PP’s proposal to raise the legalization of surrogacy: “They have already made it very clear this week: they are unaware of the reality of the needs of women and feminist politics”. “Ignorance is very dangerous,” she added. The Government and prominent members of the PSOE have also been against it.
The candidate leaves his position on the lists in the midst of a particularly delicate moment for Francina Armengol’s rival at the polls, the PP candidate, Marga Prohens. Popular politics has been in the spotlight for days for having attended a meal with a former party official convicted of corruption who, at the moment, is in the third degree of prison. Prohens has also been strongly questioned by several ministers for this food and for statements in which she assured that the obligation to install elevating beds in hotels “is the biggest nonsense in tourism policy.”
The position that Lafau occupied on the Balearic PSOE list, number six, will now be occupied by the president’s current chief of staff, Quim Torres, who is also running as an independent. Torres was ranked number eight and the list of Socialists will move in the positions occupied by men since it is a zipper candidacy.
Armengol and Prohens face the most disputed elections of the last 16 years on May 28. The polls do not show a clear winner, although they do reflect that it will be necessary to agree to form a government in the Balearic Islands from that date.
