The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has said this Monday that the former Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, did not ask for his opinion before submitting his resignation, although he considers it a “success” to have chosen the moment to formalize it, once he had offered public explanations to the media and in the Cortes.
As he has recounted, the head of the Executive received a message in which Puente informed him of his “irrevocable” departure while he was giving an address to the Standing Committee of the Congress of Deputies, where he was reporting on the Urda railway accident (Toledo) in which 69 people lost their lives, as he has indicated in an interview in “La Séptima” collected by Europa Press.
Sánchez understands that “having put himself out there” in several appearances before the press, detailing the information available up to that point and “provided solutions” through a package of measures to strengthen rail safety, made that point the most appropriate to assume political responsibilities and step away from the position. “Without having asked me, I think that doing it at that moment was a success,” he has emphasized.
In this way, the president backs the version offered by Puente himself, who after his resignation explained that he informed Sánchez just a few minutes before making it public, at the end of his address in the plenary chamber.
JUSTIFIES HIS ABSENCE AT THE FUNERAL IN TOLEDO
In another matter, Sánchez has defended his decision not to attend this Tuesday’s funeral mass for the victims of the Urda incident, which will take place in the Primada Cathedral of Toledo, arguing that he never attends religious ceremonies, although he has stressed that the Executive will be present.
“I have always gone to non-denominational ceremonies. I have never gone to religious services, which I respect deeply. I have never done it,” he said when asked about his commitment to being close to the victims and their families.
Along these lines, the president has assured that the Government will have institutional representation at the liturgical act through the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, and the Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, Milagros Tolón.
Asked, furthermore, whether he would be willing to take part in a possible secular tribute in remembrance of the deceased, Sánchez replied in the affirmative. “Of course, what would be missing? Of course,” he concluded.
At the funeral, scheduled for this Tuesday at 19:00 hours at the Primate Cathedral of Toledo, the attendance of the Kings has been announced. The presence of the ministers of Defense, Margarita Robles; Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, and Health, Mónica García, is also expected, as well as that of the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and of the campaign spokesperson for the party and for the Popular Parliamentary Group in the Congress, Ester Muñoz.