The president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, faces this Friday in the Valencian Cortes the biggest examination of his management, since he took office, due to the consequences of the historic DANA that on October 29 left 216 dead and dozens of municipalities destroyed . 17 days later, the tragedy will also cause a remodeling of the regional government, with the incorporation of technical profiles more focused on a reconstruction that will be multimillion-dollar. The continuity of the head of the regional Executive, at least in the short term, is beyond any doubt despite the massive demonstration last Saturday, in which 130,000 people demanded his resignation. To silence critical voices, even from the PP, the regional president wants to present a renewed team as a firewall and more prepared for management of the day after. Sources from the Generalitat insisted to ABC that nothing had been decided yet and did not want to advance any names, although they pointed to the vice president, Susana Camarero, as one of the positions that will have the most weight in the new Executive.
Precisely, he could be seen next to Mazón attending the meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) electronically in an image distributed from the Palau. Camarero, head of Social Services, Equality and Housing, will be in charge of a macro-area that will coordinate the response to the catastrophe in a transversal manner. In recent days, she has assumed the spokesperson for the regional government, replacing Ruth Merino, also Minister of Finance, in her duties. Merino’s profile – a State Treasury technician – places her in a good situation to remain in charge of the Generalitat’s finances.
The exit that is considered safe is that of the head of Justice and Interior, Salomé Pradas, and her team in Emergencies, due to the errors made and the contradictions when explaining the steps taken on the day of the flood. Mazón himself put her on the line a few days ago by defending that her presence at Cecopi, chaired by Pradas that afternoon, was not necessary to make decisions. On the table is that the Presidency assumes the powers of Emergencies, as happened during Ximo Puig’s time at the head of the Consell, to strengthen the story of reconstruction. In this sense, the current general director of Forest Fire Prevention, Rosa Touris, aims to play a relevant role. Touris, captain of the Civil Guard and security expert, has been appearing before the media for days to detail the technical issues discussed in the Cecopi meetings.
Other sources close to Mazón suggest that the president has offered to join the Valencian government to the PP deputy in Congress for Alicante Joaquín Melgarejo, professor and expert in water resources. In addition to being a firm defender of the Tajo-Segura transfer, Melgarejo has directed lectures and is the author of numerous publications that deal with water or the management of natural resources.
Who is also in the starting box is the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Nuria Montes, for her lack of empathy when addressing the victims in statements for which she had to apologize. It is also about a very important portfolio in order to alleviate the effects of DANA, given the number of economic sectors affected.
In any case, all these changes will be announced later – it has not been confirmed whether this afternoon or Saturday – and not during the parliamentary appearance, requested by Mazón himselfwhich had to be canceled on Thursday due to the alert due to heavy rain. The monographic session will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a minute of silence. After an initial intervention by Mazón without a time limit, the opposition and the PP will have two speaking turns of 15 and 8 minutes, to which the president will respond. Compromís will be the only group that will ask for his resignation. The PSPV-PSOE wants it to be a plenary session in which accounts are rendered without reaching a climate of tension, while Vox hopes that its former partner will accept errors and will also point out those of the central Executive.
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