The Permanent Deputation of the Andalusian Parliament has rejected this Thursday, August 27, the request to hold an extraordinary Plenary so that the Council of Government of the Junta could report on the management of the forest fire declared this summer in Niebla, which affected several municipalities in the provinces of Huelva and Sevilla. The initiative has been rejected thanks to the absolute majority held by PP-A and Vox.
The request for this Plenary had been registered by the Socialist Group and, in the meeting of the Permanent Deputation, it had the support of Adelante Andalucía and Por Andalucía. However, the votes against from PP-A and Vox, partners in the Andalusian Executive in this legislature, have prevented its convening.
In parallel, the first vice president of the Junta and counselor of Presidency, Health and Emergencies, Antonio Sanz (PP-A), announced this Wednesday his intention to appear at his own request before the Plenary of the Parliament to present the balance of the forest fires of the summer in the community, as well as the actions of the Junta in response to the earthquakes in Granada and the assessment of the Andalusian Government regarding the central Executive's response to drug trafficking.
The president of the Parliament, Ana Mestre, has indicated, in response to questions from the Socialist Group at the beginning of the session of the Permanent Deputation, that this request for the counselor's appearance will be addressed in the meeting of the Chamber's Board scheduled for Wednesday, September 9, prior to the first ordinary Plenary of the new session period, set for the 16th and 17th of next month.
Arguments from the opposition to demand an urgent Plenary
In the debate of positions, the PSOE-A parliamentarian Mario Jiménez has defended the need for an extraordinary Plenary arguing that "50,000 hectares devastated in Andalusia and 14 dead" --in the fire recorded last July in Los Gallardos (Almería)-- is "sufficient reason" for the Parliament, in a plenary session of "extraordinary" nature, to carry out "an evaluation of what has happened with forest policy and fire extinction and emergencies in Andalusia."
Furthermore, he has reproached Vox for having become the "lapdog" of the president of the Junta and of PP-A, Juanma Moreno, "who is going to have all his shames covered because they have gifted him a ministry and a position," and has criticized the actions of the Andalusian Executive in emergencies, which he has described as "an absolute disaster," marked by "wrong decisions" and "poorly made," with an Infoca that, in his opinion, is "destroyed."
In the same vein, the deputy of Adelante Andalucía Begoña Iza has insisted on the relevance of an extraordinary Plenary because, as she has pointed out, "now it is time" for the Andalusian Government to come to Parliament to give "explanations" about fires like the one in Niebla, where "many factors" have combined that have led to "dramatic circumstances," among them "the mistreatment of the Junta towards Infoca."
The representative of Adelante has attributed "negligences" to the Executive of Juanma Moreno in this area, has warned that Infoca "still does not have the necessary personnel," and has cautioned that the "consequences" of that situation are being "paid," while she has condemned the "climate change denialism" of PP-A and Vox.
For her part, the parliamentarian of Por Andalucía Esperanza Gómez has also supported the call for an extraordinary Plenary so that the Junta accounts for the fire in Niebla, starting her intervention with words of "recognition and gratitude to all the personnel who have worked for 15 days" in extinguishing the fire.
Gómez has defended that this appearance of the Andalusian Government should not be postponed to an ordinary Plenary of the session period that begins in September, because "an urgent response is needed" after "eight years of PP management" in the Junta, as she has emphasized.
PP-A and Vox halt the initiative and appeal to the already registered appearance
On the opposite side, the Popular and Vox groups have rejected in the Permanent Deputation the call for the extraordinary Plenary through the interventions of their spokespersons Toni Martín and Paula Badanelli, respectively.
The spokesperson of the PP-A, Toni Martín, has reminded that the first vice president and counselor of Emergencies, Antonio Sanz, "has already registered his appearance at his own request" for the "first Plenary that takes place" in the Andalusian Parliament in the new session period, scheduled for September, and has emphasized that "he has been giving explanations since the first day," being "on the front line" as "responsible for all emergency devices in Andalusia."
Martín has added that a fire "is not put out politically," but "by following the technical criteria of the professionals," which is how "it is done in Andalusia," before stressing that Counselor Antonio Sanz "will appear when it is his turn, which is in the first Plenary of September."
The Vox deputy Paula Badanelli, for her part, has described as "far-fetched" the "arguments of the left to justify an urgency that does not exist," and has maintained that "the urgency of the Government" of the Junta regarding the fire in Niebla was to "put out" the fire. She has also highlighted that from the department led by the second vice president, Manuel Gavira (Vox), they are now working on "analyzing the impact that what happened" this summer in provinces like Huelva or Almería due to the fires may have on tourism.
Badanelli has concluded by assuring that the Andalusian Government will offer "the appropriate explanations when it is due, when the analysis of what happened is finished" and when "solutions for the people who, unfortunately, have had to go through such a tough situation" can be proposed.