The PNV spokesperson in Congress and leading candidate for Gipuzkoa, Maribel Vaquero, considers that the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, should not only "clarify what happened," but also "assume responsibilities" for the Urda railway accident (Toledo).
At an event of the jeltzale formation held at the Náutico of Donostia/San Sebastián, and backed by the Gipuzkoa candidacy of her party ahead of the general elections on November 29, Vaquero was asked by the media whether Puente should resign and she replied in these terms.
"We are talking about demanding the greatest responsibilities, both at a technical level and at a political level, also echoing what President Sánchez said, because he said, hours after the accident occurred, that it was an inexcusable fact, and we share that statement, it is an inexcusable fact," she explained.
After stressing that this disaster has left more than 69 people dead, she underlined that in Spain there have been two accidents this year with more than a hundred fatal victims, which, in her view, is generating "an alarm" around the use of the railway system, despite the fact that, in her opinion, it is "the safest system to travel."
At the same time, the jeltzale leader pointed out that the country is in the middle of the electoral pre-campaign and that this context favors "a greater use of the accident," when, in her judgment, "the first thing" Óscar Puente must do is "be with the victims and clarify everything that happened."
"They are still finding bodies and, therefore, what we believe is that the first thing to do is be with the victims," she defended. She added that, together with that accompaniment, it is essential to "clarify what happened and take political responsibility" for what occurred. "We believe they must assume responsibilities in these events," she stressed.
For the jeltzale candidate, "from that conception that what has happened is inexcusable," it is obligatory to "take responsibilities." "That is why we ask the president that, in the face of those words and these facts that are truly terrible, there will have to be an assumption of responsibilities," she reiterated.
In this scenario, he has pointed out that his group will wait for Puente's appearance, requested by himself, this Tuesday in the Permanent Deputation of the Congress of Deputies, to hear "what he is going to tell", but he has emphasized that, in any case, "responsibilities must be assumed in the face of these very serious facts".
Investigate leaks and guarantee security
Regarding this matter, he has indicated that the PNV trusts that Puente will detail "what measures have been taken so that events like this do not happen again" and thus be able to "send a message of reassurance to the public". Likewise, he has called for an "investigation" process to be launched into the leaks of the conversations of the Center for Regulation and Control (CRC) of Atocha, in Madrid, made public after the accident.
"These are inassimilable facts and that have occurred in a very short span of time and we believe that political responsibilities have to be taken," he insisted.