Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, Esperanza Aguirre, and Cristina Cifuentes once again have an institutional role in the Community of Madrid. The Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso has appointed them as elected members of the Advisory Legal Commission, the highest advisory body in the region on legal matters.
The three former Madrid presidents of the PP will be able to receive 750 euros net for each plenary session they attend, according to a report by El País. The newspaper's information details the economic scope that their incorporation into the body may have depending on the number of sessions held and their attendance.
The decision has a particularly striking precedent in Cristina Cifuentes. It was her own Government that, in 2015, eliminated the old Advisory Council of the Community of Madrid, of which former presidents could be part under very different economic conditions than those established now.
Cifuentes eliminated the old Advisory Council in 2015
The abolition of the Advisory Council was one of the first measures adopted by Cifuentes after taking office as president of Madrid. The Executive then justified the decision within its policy of reducing public bodies and saving costs, and the legal competencies of that institution ended up being assumed by the current Advisory Legal Commission.
The old model was much more costly. The former presidents who were part of the Advisory Council received 8,500 euros gross monthly, in addition to having an official car and an assistant. The disappearance of the body also ended that remuneration pathway for the previous regional presidents.
Eleven years later, Cifuentes is joining precisely the Advisory Legal Commission, although the economic functioning is different: that monthly allocation linked to the old Council no longer exists, but rather a diet associated with actual attendance at the sessions.
What the Advisory Legal Commission of Madrid does
The Advisory Legal Commission is the highest advisory body of the Community of Madrid on legal matters. Its function is to issue opinions on certain administrative files in the cases established by legislation, before the Administration adopts a definitive resolution.
Among the matters that may reach the body are procedures for patrimonial responsibility, ex officio reviews, certain administrative contracts or modifications of urban planning instruments, among other matters legally submitted to opinion.
The former presidents join as elective members and not as members of a council created specifically for them. Their participation is framed, therefore, within the ordinary functioning of a body that was already exercising the consultative functions of the Community.
The allowances depend on attendance at the plenaries
The system establishes that there will only be remuneration when the member attends the session. The Presidency Department has specified that, if a former president does not participate in a plenary due to incompatibility or any other personal circumstance, they will not receive the corresponding compensation.
The allowance is also subject to incompatibilities. According to the explanation provided by the Madrid Executive, it cannot be combined with the compensation that corresponds after leaving the position nor with other public remuneration.
Therefore, there is no fixed annual amount assigned to Gallardón, Aguirre, or Cifuentes. The money ultimately received will be conditioned by the activity of the body and by their effective presence at the meetings.
Not all former presidents can become members
The new regime also does not automatically open the Advisory Legal Commission to anyone who has presided over the Community of Madrid. To access, it is necessary to have held the Presidency for at least two years and have taken the position at the beginning of a legislature.
These conditions exclude former presidents such as Ignacio González and Ángel Garrido from this possibility. Pedro Rollán also cannot currently join as he holds the Presidency of the Senate, while Joaquín Leguina occupies the Presidency of the Court of Accounts of the Community of Madrid.
The regulations also temporarily limit membership in the body. The ordinary period can last up to six years from the appointment, with a possible extension to twelve for those who have remained more than four years at the head of the Community. The model designed by the Ayuso Executive thus recovers a consultative role for certain former presidents, but under different conditions than those that existed until Cifuentes eliminated the old Council in 2015.