The one who was the all-powerful regional president of the PP, the one who placed this party at the pinnacle of political hegemony in the Region of Murcia by turning it into a precise machine for winning elections, has preferred to renounce his membership card rather than see himself expedited and suffer disciplinary measures for his involvement in the ‘Salt case’.
Sources from the PP leadership confirmed this Friday to LA VERDAD that Ramón Luis Valcárcel “is no longer a member” of the party. Those four words protect the politician from any initiative adopted by the party’s Rights and Guarantees Committee, the body in charge of applying the disciplinary regime contained in the organization’s Statutes.
According to this disciplinary regime, the first step would have been the opening of a disciplinary file and later the precautionary suspension of militancy as a consequence of the opening of an oral trial against the hitherto popular militant.
Valcárcel’s withdrawal from the PP occurred “at his own request”, indicated the same sources, who could not specify when said resignation took place. What they did clarify is that by losing his affiliate status, he also ceases to hold the position of honorary president of the PP of the Region of Murcia, a position for which he was elected when he handed over the scepter of popular leadership to Pedro Antonio Sánchez, who succeeded him not only at the head of the political organization, but also in the presidency of the Community, and who at the beginning of March was sentenced to three years in prison and more than 17 years of disqualification for the ‘Auditorio case’.
The same circumstance occurred with Pedro Antonio Sánchez that prevented the party from taking disciplinary measures against him after receiving a conviction: he was no longer a party member.
The head of the Investigation Court number 1 of Murcia, in an order notified last Thursday, ordered the opening of an oral trial against the former president of the regional government, Ramón Luis Valcárcel, for the alleged crimes of continued prevarication, continued fraud and embezzlement of public funds in relation to the lease agreement for the acquisition of the Escombreras desalination plant.
For his part, the prosecutor, in his indictment, requests for Valcárcel sentences that add up to 11 years and 6 months in prison, 20 of absolute disqualification and 27 of special disqualification for employment or public office.
applauded and cheered
The Statutes of the PP establish that “when a member is involved in a criminal proceeding in respect of which an order to open an oral trial has been issued for a crime related to corruption”, he must be suspended from militancy by the National Committee for Rights and Guarantee. The expulsion will take place only when the conviction is firm.
Just eight months ago, Ramón Luis Valcárcel was applauded and cheered with fervor by the cadres and militants of the Murcian PP. It was at the extraordinary regional congress of the popular, held last July, in which he spoke before a packed Víctor Villegas auditorium and received an effusive greeting from the party’s national president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Now, on the other hand, his prosecution for the “Salt case” has not only left him out of the party, but could also become a drag on the electoral aspirations of the popular leader, Fernando López Miras, and make it difficult to obtain seats enough to govern the next legislature alone.
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