The deputy for the Socialist Parliamentary Group for La Palma, Alicia Vanoostende, denounced this Tuesday the rejection by Coalición Canaria (CC) and the Popular Party (PP) in the regional Chamber's plenary session to hand over the list of volcano aid beneficiaries. This refusal comes despite a binding resolution from the Parliament's Bureau, unanimously approved, which demands that counselor Nieves Lady Barreto immediately provide the information.
Vanoostende recalled that she has been requesting very simple information for several months: “A list of public aid financed with public money.” According to the deputy, the Government of the Canary Islands has made every effort to avoid providing the documentation, changing arguments and losing every legal battle against the Parliament's Bureau and the Chamber's legal services, who have ruled in her favor.
The parliamentarian criticized that, despite the resolutions in her favor, the parties supporting the Government of the Canary Islands voted to maintain the obstructionist attitude and lack of transparency of the Presidency Department. She considers this stance weakens the role of the Parliament of the Canary Islands as a government oversight body.
“We are discussing Counselor Nieves Lady's insistence that no one knows what they are doing. We are talking about respect for the basic rules of democracy,” stated Vanoostende, who also recalled that in any serious parliamentary system, the Government is accountable to Parliament, and no counselor can decide what information the Chamber knows and what is hidden.
The deputy for La Palma lamented that since CC and the PP came to power, “silence and opacity” have prevailed. She rhetorically asked: “Why so much fear of transparency in the reconstruction of La Palma?”. She demanded the immediate delivery of the data, arguing that “the people have the right to know and this Parliament has the duty to oversee”.
Vanoostende pointed out that this vote goes beyond the case of the aid list, as it decides “whether we want the Parliament to retain its capacity to control the Government or if the Government can ignore Parliament whenever it pleases”.
