Madrid will hold early regional elections

USPA NEWS - The president of the regional government of Madrid, the conservative Isabel Díaz Ayuso, dissolved the regional Parliament on Wednesday and announced the call for early regional elections, in a maneuver that sought to abort an alleged attempt by the Socialist Party and the centrist Citizens to present a motion of no confidence. against her. Socialists and Citizens had presented in the morning a motion of censure against the conservative government of the Murcia region, in the southeast of the country, and Ayuso, fearful that the same would happen in Madrid, decided to take the initiative and call early elections.

The centrist Citizens party became, in recent years, the necessary partner for the conservative Popular Party (PP in its Spanish acronym), to form a government in several Spanish regions, including Murcia. But the agreement between Citizens and the PP in this region was broken when it was made public that senior officials of the Murcian government had been vaccinated against COVID-19, skipping the shifts established in the national vaccination program against the coronavirus. That privilege was what motivated the break between the government partner Citizens and the Popular Party. The centrist formation then approached the Socialist Party and agreed to present a motion of censure against the conservative government of Murcia.

The presentation of a motion of no confidence in the Spanish regional parliaments prevents the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of early elections. For this reason and in anticipation that, in Madrid, the same could happen as in Murcia, the president of the Madrid regional government, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, decided this Wednesday to take the initiative and dissolve the regional Parliament, announcing the call for early elections.

Ayuso tries in this way to prevent the presentation of a motion of censure against her management. Madrid is the only Spanish region that is directly opposed to the perimeter closure of the regions during the Father's Day festival, on March 19, and next Easter. Her way of dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic has given good results in Madrid, without the need to close bars and restaurants or reduce economic activity. However, its management is criticized by the opposition parties.

Ayuso's decision was described as "irresponsible" by leaders of the conservative Popular Party. They criticized that, in Madrid, the same circumstances did not exist as in Murcia and that, in their opinion, it was unlikely that a motion of censure would succeed. But the Madrid regional president has not taken a step back: the same day that the regions agreed to their perimeter closure during the Father's Day and Holy Week, with the only opposition from Madrid, Ayuso decided to stand firm and leave it in the hands of the Madrilenian voters decide whether their policy is right or wrong.