The tension between the two government partners of the Valencia City Council persists despite the PP’s attempts to smooth out the differences and defend the robustness of the pact reached with Vox in October of last year. An example: yesterday the Local Government Board approved the appointment of Isabel Rubio as the new general director of institutional relations of the Mayor’s Office. Rubio was until now managing director of the Fundació València Activa, the entity whose statutes Vox changed to avoid specific active employment policies for women, a group that has worse employability quotes than men.
As La Vanguardia has learned, Isabel Rubio informed, on March 13, by letter to the councilor and Vox spokesperson, Juanma Badenas, of her decision to terminate her employment relationship with València Activa. The reasons, explained by those around her, are that she was uncomfortable and did not agree with the changes introduced by the ultra party on March 6. Yesterday, Vox congratulated Rubio on the departure of Rubio, who was appointed before the ultra party entered the local government and attributed it to a maneuver by her party to have people she trusted in her management areas. .
The story of the managing director’s departure does not coincide between the two parties that share responsibilities in the City Council, nor does it coincide when it comes to assessing the current state of her government agreement.
The spokesman for the municipal Executive, Juan Carlos Caballero (PP), assured yesterday that the pact signed between these two formations is “healthy” and “is not in danger”, despite what was experienced on Wednesday in the plenary session of the City Council where Vox, after Denying him the floor, the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, left the Chamber in protest.
Despite this, Caballero tried to make light of the matter and assured that all members of the executive are “very clear about what is important for this city council; serving the Valencians, making policies for the Valencians and making Valencia an open city again.” “dynamic and entrepreneurial.”
Gentleman also tried to minimize the fact that after returning to the plenary session to vote against a Compromís motion, the four Voxist councilors once again left the Chamber, forcing the vote not to be taken on a modification of credits of 37 million euros that, by extraordinary means , the government team was going to propose. It will be taken to the next plenary sessions, said Caballero, who once again reiterated that in terms of equality, Vox will not condition the City Council’s policies.
Faced with the more condescending attitude of the PP, the Vox spokesperson, Juanma Badenas, once again tried to tickle his partners. Along these lines, he assured in statements to À Punt that “Valencians have to be very calm, and the left also has to be very calm, that the Valencia City Council is not going to approve anything that is ideologically left-wing, nor by the parties of the left, nor by any other party”. A clear message to the PP.
Badenas guaranteed that “Vox will continue to exercise its powers” in the municipal areas under its jurisdiction and will “respect” the government agreement with the PP. Of course, he denied that his and his group’s attitude in recent days was “no ultimatum.”
Sources from Vox insist to this newspaper that it is not enough for them that “everything remains the same” and that they will not allow the invasion of powers that in their opinion the PP does with active employment policies for women and they ask for “loyalty” from their partners. However, the PP has made it very clear that equality is a red line for them and they demand that Vox “dedicate themselves to managing.” Thus, they detail that by leaving before the plenary session, the incorporation of one million euros to the Department headed by Badenas and 600,000 euros to the Party Department, also held by Vox, has been delayed.