The Councilor for Rural Parties, Parties and Citizen Participation, Manuel Jiménez, has communicated this Wednesday to the mayor and candidate for re-election, Luis Barcala, his decision not to run on the PP list headed by the mayor for next year’s municipal elections May 28 “so as not to harm my family or my party.”
Jiménez has announced that he will appear before the plenary session of the City Council on April 27 in order to explain to all Alicante citizens “the complete legality” of the management of minor contracts in their areas and, at the end of the session, he will deliver his minutes of councilor.
“With a completely clear conscience about the legality of my actionsâ€, the mayor has indicated, “I take a step to the side after forty years dedicated to citizen associations so as not to harm my family; to my party, to which I feel closely linked; nor my mayor Luis Barcalaâ€.
“My family, the most important thing in my life, is experiencing this unfair situation with anguish. I cannot make them continue to go through all this and this moves me to take a step to the side â€, she stressed. Jiménez has stressed that the tranquility and well-being of his loved ones “are above any other consideration or objective” and that “the orchestrated persecution” of which he feels a victim leads him to withdraw from public life “to avoid suffering and the discomfort of the people I love the mostâ€.
“I also request to appear before the Plenary of the City Council on the 27th to explain to the political groups and to all the people of Alicante that all the procedures carried out in my area have been carried out with complete legality”, he added. “Although the damage has already been done and is irreparable,” added Jiménez, “my honor and dignity are above all the campaigns orchestrated against me and I feel fully entitled to defend myself.”
The Councilor for Partidas Rurales also thanked Barcala for “understanding and respecting” his decision, both to distance himself from the municipal candidacy of the PP, “and to appear before all the people of Alicante in the plenary hall where I have worked for them with in order to give all the explanations they deserve and make it clear that I have nothing to be ashamed of, but the firm will to unmask the dirty maneuver that has been hatched against me and then leave my responsibilities as a councilorâ€.
“I understand politics as a permanent service to others,” Jiménez concluded. “For this reason, I will never share those dark and devious practices that, far from benefiting the citizens we serve, only feed personal misery.”
