Ponce will continue to lead the SMS “as long as it is compatible” with his candidacy

As LA VERDAD announced last week, Francisco Ponce will lead the electoral list of the PP in the Alicante town of Petrer. This forces him to leave the direction of the SMS sooner or later to focus on municipal politics, but the president of the Community is in no rush to take over. At least that’s how he transmitted it this Monday. “We have a very good managing director of the Murcian Health Service”, a position “that is perfectly compatible [con su condición de candidato], as has happened on almost all occasions when a member of the Government of the Region of Murcia opts for a municipal candidacy, “he said. “Therefore, as long as it is compatible, we will continue to have the services of Dr. Ponce,” he stressed.

Regional government sources later stated that “the regional electoral law allows [los candidatos] can exercise their position until the moment they are elected.

Ponce comes from Petrer, where he was already a councilor for eight years, and his return to municipal politics had been on the table for a long time. The mystery was cleared up last Wednesday, when the still managing director of the SMS announced his candidacy, backed by the president of the PP of the Valencian Community, Carlos Mazón.

Francisco José Ponce arrived at the SMS Management two years ago, in the midst of a pandemic and after the traumatic resignation of the entire previous team as a result of the vaccination scandal. His relationship with Murcian health had begun earlier, in 2018, when the then managing director of the Altiplano area, Francisco Soriano, incorporated him into his team, first as Primary Care coordinator and later as medical director.