Jesús Aguirre (PP-A) presented this Tuesday, July 14, the document with which he makes his resignation from the Presidency of the Parliament of Andalusia effective. The current first vice-president of the Chamber, the popular deputy Ana Mestre, is expected to take over the position, within the framework of the reorganization of the Board derived from the pact sealed between PP-A and Vox that allowed the investiture of Juanma Moreno as president of the Junta de Andalucía on July 2.
According to parliamentary sources indicated to Europa Press, although the resignation letter was registered this Tuesday, it will not take effect until Thursday, July 23. On that day, a plenary session will be held to address the modification of the composition of the Board, elected last June 11 during the constitutive session of the XIII Andalusian legislature.
From the Popular Group, they had already announced last Friday that their intention was to propose Ana Mestre as the new president of the Parliament to replace Jesús Aguirre, who PP-A will in turn propose as a senator by autonomous designation.
The PP-A deputy for Cádiz will have to leave the First Vice-Presidency of the Chamber to cede that position to the representative proposed by Vox, as stipulated in the agreement signed at the beginning of the month between both parties to facilitate the third investiture of the 'popular' leader, Juanma Moreno, as president of the Junta de Andalucía.
Thus, the scheme being considered is for Ana Mestre to hand over the First Vice-Presidency of the Parliament to Vox and, at the same time, assume the Presidency, taking advantage of the departure of Jesús Aguirre, who leaves the position after having held it throughout the XII legislature.
The governability agreement sealed by PP-A and Vox for Andalusia includes, among other points, that Vox will occupy the First Vice-Presidency of the Parliament's Board, and that the Popular Group will cede to this party one of the five seats for senators by autonomous designation corresponding to it in the new legislature.
The forecast is that Vox will designate its deputy Beatriz Sánchez for the First Vice-Presidency of the Parliament's Board, who already integrates the Chamber's governing body as a member, with the right to speak but not to vote.
For this Wednesday, July 15, a meeting of the Parliament's Bureau and another of the Spokespersons' Board have been convened, in which the agenda for the following week's Plenary session could be finalized, which would address both the changes in the Bureau and the election of the senators to be appointed by the Andalusian Parliament.
Jesús Aguirre's Career
Jesús Aguirre was born in Córdoba in 1955 and graduated in Medicine in 1979 from the University of Córdoba, specializing in Family Medicine. He was a tenured public home care physician (APD) by competitive examination since 1982, practicing in the Cordoban municipalities of Villa del Río, Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo, Carcabuey, Fuente Palmera, and in the capital.
He held various positions in the healthcare sector: he was a delegate of the Personnel Board of the Central Area of Córdoba of the SAS (1996-2003), vice-president of the Medical Union of Córdoba (1998-2001), and president of the Official College of Physicians of Córdoba (February 2001-2006).
He represented the General Council of Official Colleges of Physicians before the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs in the Working Group for the development of a Comprehensive Plan of Measures for Control and Rational Use of Pharmaceutical Expenditure and Medication (2001-2003). He was also an elected member of the Budget Commission of the General Council of Official Colleges of Physicians (2003-2006) and was part of the Working Group on Professional Career and the Law on the Organization of Health Professionals (LOPS) in the OMC (2003-2005).
Furthermore, he was an elected senator for the PP for Córdoba in the IX, X, and XII legislatures. In the first Government of Juanma Moreno —formed in coalition between the PP-A and Ciudadanos— he held the Ministry of Health and Families between 2019 and 2022, a period during which he managed the initial years of the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as other situations of particular health relevance, such as the listeriosis alert registered in 2019, his first year in office.
For her part, if her election is finally confirmed, Ana Mestre will become the fourth woman to preside over the Andalusian Parliament since 1982. Before her, the socialists María del Mar Moreno —VII legislature— and Fuensanta Coves —VIII legislature—, and the Ciudadanos deputy Marta Bosquet, who held the Presidency of the regional Chamber in the XI legislature, did so.