The president of the Council of State, Carmen Calvo, explained this Tuesday in Gijón that the process of incapacitating former socialist minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega as a counselor of the body she directs responds to a situation prolonged over time, given that, as she recalled, it has been approximately a year and a half since she has been unable to perform her duties.
"We have reached a point where it is necessary to make decisions," she stated before reporters during her institutional visit to the Advisory Council of the Principality of Asturias, based in Gijón and presided over by Pablo Baquero.
Calvo emphasized that she cannot go into details about this matter "out of respect for De la Vega's privacy." She remarked that "the procedure that the Council of State must follow is of maximum guarantee" and recalled that she has known her for many years from her time as a minister, which makes this situation something "sad."
The president of the Council of State has insisted that it is a single file that is being processed within the institution and that "it is the only one being handled in the Council of State," referring to reports that pointed to a possible incapacitation of another counselor, José Luis Manzanares.
In this regard, she denounced that "everything else is also part of this moment we have to live, of various lies and untimely comments."
Regarding Manzanares, she was blunt in stating that "there is no procedure," and added that those versions are part "of what anyone can invent."
Calvo also referred to her own trajectory at the head of the Council of State and wanted to make it clear that "my future is not in the Council of State more than the time I have to preside over it," a position she considers for herself a "huge honor."
She assured that she is "absolutely fascinated with the body, seeing it internally" and recalled that "I have seen it from the outside all my life, as a jurist, as a professor, as a counselor of a regional government, as a minister, as a vice president," so she insisted that now it is "fascinating to see it now."
Regarding her dedication, she emphasized that "I have devoted myself body and soul to being there as long as I have to be, but I have never seen my future there," referring to some comments she has labeled as "slanderous" and that, she said, "I imagine will weigh on the conscience of those who utter them without knowing."