Vélez clothes the re-elected local leader Manuel Torres and his new executive, calls the deputy mayor’s party a “white label” and charges “those who left looking for a better future for their pocket”
«What Manolo Torres has done has been to unite so many male and female companions that he has fighting by his side. He has achieved what many thought would not happen, many who left looking for a better future for his pocket but who forgot the city, the good people». The leader of the PSRM, José Vélez, thus combined this Saturday praise for the recently re-elected Secretary General of the Cartagena Socialists, his new executive committee and militants and sympathizers with criticism of those who, according to him, left the party for personal interests and now they are launching their own political project for next year’s local elections.
In statements to journalists, on the occasion of the General Assembly of Delegates of the PSOE in Cartagena, held at the Social Institute of the Navy, the also Government delegate in the Region avoided clarifying whether he was referring to the current deputy mayor, Ana Belén Castejón, already its five related councillors. They were expelled from the PSOE for having agreed in 2019 on a government coalition with the PP and Ciudadanos without consulting the militants.
The general secretary of the PSRM did quote the former mayor and former general secretary of the Cartagena PSOE to talk about “the white mark of Noelia Arroyo and Ana Belén Castejón to support the PP in the 2023 elections.” Regarding the formation that Castejón will present on May 14, Vélez said that she is not “interested”. But she contrasted “the Socialist Party, which is here” with “the white brands to simply keep the chair, the salary and the official car.”
Vélez also criticized Arroyo for his words on Friday about Castejón. According to Vélez, the popular councilor “is not finding out or is simply politicizing the situation” when she praises her government partner for opposing the installation of the Temporary Attention Center for Foreigners (CATE) in the port.
Thus, Vélez assured that “both the president of the Port Authority, and all the parties that were involved in this matter, reached an agreement to make the location in El Espalmador provisional.” She asked “to be united on a state issue”, such as immigration, to “seek the best solutions to a definitive location, now yes.” And she affirmed that Arroyo “lies” when he says that CATE prevents the Consistory and the Port from developing a project for citizen use of El Espalmador. He does it “to win the match against Vox and win votes,” she said.
CATE, AVE AND TRANSFER
Also in a local key, he claimed the investment of the Government of Spain in cultural “heritage” against the lack of spending by the regional Executive, for example on roads. And he assured that “in the next few years the people of Cartagena will be able to take the AVE in this magnificent city to go to Madrid” and that in his party they are “working so that they can also do it on the normal railway by an electrified line to Albacete, passing through Cieza».
Finally, at the regional level, Vélez stated about the plans to cut the Tajo-Segura Transfer that “the first party that came out to say no to the Ministry’s decision to raise the minimum flows, because it could be detrimental to our territory, was the PSOE of the Region of Murcia». Since then, he pointed out “we continue to work together with the Ministry to find the best solutions for this land.”
And he attacked the president of the Community, Fernando López Miras, whom he accused of changing his criteria on future regional financing and avoiding an agreement at the direction of the new popular president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who according to Vélez has come to tell him about his continuity at the head of the Murcian PP: “Chaval, shut up, you follow.”
Manuel Torres, the only candidate in the primaries and who was also accompanied by the deputy spokeswoman for the PSRM and regional deputy Carmina Fernández, assured that “of course” he trusts that his party will win the local elections. And about possible government pacts with other formations, he replied that “if necessary, the militants will decide, as always and as the statutes say.” “Because of this situation, we are as we are,” he added, referring to the fact that the PSOE was left without a municipal group by kicking out its six mayors. Now, he proclaimed “the PSOE of Cartagena has returned with an exciting and innovative project” on issues such as decentralization, Mar Menor and decontamination of industrial and mining land.
The candidate, in a primary
In the Municipal Executive Commission, Isabel María Andreu, president of the Perín Municipal Neighborhood Board, stands out as deputy secretary general. They also include, among other people, the secretary of the Municipal Policy Area and spokesperson, former councilor Pedro Contreras Fernández; and the secretary of the Economy Area, and also a former mayor, Angel Rafael Martínez Lorente. The new president is the municipal spokesman for the PSOE Antonio Martínez Bernal.
What the Socialists have not yet revealed is who will be the candidate for mayor. Party sources pointed to Torres as the headliner, but did not rule out the option of Carmina Fernández. The candidate will be chosen in a primary election, expected at the end of the year. Before, there will be a political conference.
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