The president of the PP and candidate for the general elections of November 29, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has blamed this Wednesday Pedro Sánchez for the rail crisis and has warned that Óscar Puente’s resignation is not enough to clear political responsibilities for the accidents in Adamuz and Urda. During his speech at an event organized by La Razón in Madrid, the popular party leader accused the head of the Executive of having chosen the ministers who have run Transport during his eight years in government.
"Who appointed Óscar Puente and José Luis Ábalos is the same. That one didn’t leave," Feijóo said, summarizing his criticism with a phrase: "Mr. Puente left, but Sánchez stayed".
The PP leader has defended that rail problems are not solved only by changing the minister. "The problem is not with the ministers. The problem is with the management model that has led to the appointment of the ministers," he said, before calling for a change of Government.
His statements come one day after Puente’s resignation and on a day when the new head of Transport, Carlos Cuerpo, has addressed the handover at the presidency of Adif.
Feijóo accuses the Government of a management that "has a cost"
The popular candidate has devoted much of his speech to the two rail accidents that occurred this year, in which 115 people have died. In his view, the tragedies have revealed the consequences of the management of public infrastructure.
"The tragedies, first in Adamuz, now recently in Urda, have stripped bare the reality, as painful as it is unsettling, of what Spanish politics has been like over the last eight years," he said.
"Poor management has a cost", he insisted, before linking the lack of General State Budgets to the difficulties in planning investments and supervising public spending.
Feijóo also criticized the appointments made during the terms of Ábalos and Puente. He has accused the Executive of moving professionals out of the rail companies and has questioned the presence of people linked to previous officials of the ministry in the governing bodies of Renfe and Adif.
"It hasn’t cost us nothing to go from a corrupt minister to a tweeting minister," he said, referring to Ábalos and Puente.
The president of the PP has attributed to Sánchez the political responsibility for these decisions. "The person responsible for what happens in Spain and in important matters is a Government president who has been in power for eight years," he said.
He promises to review the public accounts and the railway situation
Feijóo has linked his criticism of the Government with the "national reconstruction" project that he wants to defend during the election campaign. He has announced that, if he arrives in La Moncloa, one of his first priorities will be to learn in detail the situation of the public accounts and the rail system.
He has also said that he will allow work to be carried out by experts, technicians and officials, and that he will demand responsibilities for the problems detected in public management.
"I will ensure personally that all those responsible for our country's systemic failure assume responsibilities," he promised.
The popular leader has insisted on the need to recover budget planning. "Spain needs Budgets, and it will have them," he said, after reproaching the Executive for having governed without approving new public accounts during the legislature.
In his view, the absence of Budgets makes it difficult to set priorities and control the destination of public resources. Feijóo has defended management based on respect for taxpayers' money, the balance between income and expenses, and the improvement of public services.
A "contract" with citizens and three electoral debates
The PP leader has also claimed the document of commitments that he presented weeks earlier as a candidate for the Presidency of the Government. He explained that it is not the electoral program, the drafting of which his party is finalizing, but an "agreement" with citizens.
His purpose, he said, is that "the word of the president of the Government has value" and that trust in institutions is restored.
Feijóo took advantage of the event to confirm his participation in the four-person electoral debate organized by Atresmedia. He also reiterated his commitment to take part in another debate on a private television station and in a third on public television.
"I like to keep commitments," he said.
In the final stretch of his remarks, he argued that Spain needs an Administration that works, protects citizens, and uses public resources with criteria of effectiveness.
"We are a wounded nation, but we are not a defeated nation," he said.
Feijóo has concluded his speech by assuring that his goal is to govern in order to solve the country’s problems and that he does not consider personal adversaries in his political rivals. "My enemies are the problems that harm Spain and its democracy", he said before opening the floor for questions.