There will be no extraordinary plenary session in the Andalusian Parliament to address the situation generated by the Nile virus. The request made in this regard by the Socialist Group was rejected this Tuesday by the Permanent Deputation of the Chamber, by 13 votes. deputies of the PP-A (which has an absolute majority), Vox and Por Andalucía. The PSOE demanded the appearance of the Minister of Health, Rocío Hernández, to address this issue and the health situation of the community, to which it also added that the Minister of Economy, Finance and European Funds, Carolina España, would do the same to inform about the evolution of controls on spending files.
The socialist request was debated in the body that oversees the powers of the Chamber during vacation periods such as the current one in August, and did not come to fruition thanks to the rejection of the absolute majority of the PP-A, which opposed it, as did Vox and Por Andalucía. The PSOE had the support of the Mixed Group-Adelante Andalucía, insufficient in any case for the initiative to prosper, which would have required an absolute majority.
The president of the socialist group and general secretary of the PSOE-A, Juan Espadas, took it upon himself to intervene in this debate to defend the “healthy political” initiative of his party to demand the said call from the Permanent Deputation to, in turn, request an extraordinary plenary session in which the Minister of Health would report on “the health deficits suffered by the Andalusian population due to the poor planning and management of the Summer Plan 2024”. And, on the other hand, to give details “on the management of the health crisis caused by the West Nile virus”, which has left five people dead this summer in Seville.
Establish a “single command”
On this last point, Juan Espadas said he did not understand how the Andalusian Government had not asked to appear at its own request when in this matter “health is on the table”, and the West Nile virus has already caused “five deaths” in Andalusia so far this summer. According to him, this is not an issue that has been “adequately addressed” by the regional administration.
The socialist leader stressed that there are several municipalities and provinces affected by this virus, and that it is not a question of “putting in patches”, but rather that the Council constitutes “a single command” in charge of managing this crisis “also taking into account the criteria of experts and scientists.
For Espadas, it is “neither reasonable nor logical” to wait until September 18, the date of the first regular session, to discuss issues such as the West Nile virus or the SAS summer plan, which “was a disaster as we have said.” “Everything that has been reported has happened and the councilor should come and give explanations at her request,” he stressed.
Regarding the appearance of Carolina España, the PSOE requested that she appear “to report on the agreement of the Government Council of July 30, 2024, which replaces the prior control of the expenditure files of certain subsidies with the permanent financial control.” Juan Espadas defended that this agreement of the Andalusian Government “is not a minor issue” and “deserves an explanation” from the Council to understand “why it is being carried out”, so that it is not “an issue that could occur laterally.”
Go ahead, support the request
The spokesman for the Mixed Group-Adelante Andalucía, José Ignacio García, spoke in favour of the socialist initiative, although he regretted that the socialist group had presented it separately and not in a “more constructive way” together with the other opposition groups. By registering the petition alone, the PSOE would be the only one able to question the councillors.
In any case, the representative of Adelante justified the opportunity, in his opinion, to call a plenary session of the Parliament, “the highest representative body” of the Autonomous Chamber to “control” the government of the Junta, taking into account that the last session ended on July 25, and until next September 18, no other is planned, that is, “almost two months” later.
“During this period, many things have happened, and the three that the socialist group highlights” in its initiative “are relevant and deserve the convening of a plenary session that, simply, would allow the Government to give explanations and provide information,” said the Adelante spokesperson.
Rejected for “chronological reasons”
PP-A MP Pablo Venzal spoke out against the socialist initiative and rejected the call for an extraordinary plenary session “for reasons of a chronological nature”, considering that “in a short period of time” (already in September) the aforementioned councillors will appear in parliamentary committee, with the possibility of intervention by all groups, not just the PSOE-A, and for “material and substantial reasons”, he added.
Thus, on the one hand, he stressed that the Andalusian Government has replaced prior control with permanent financial control only with regard to “certain subsidies”, and he affirmed that, in any case, “100% of the expenditure procedures are subject to prior inspection and permanent financial control”, so “the controls are the same”.
Regarding the SAS Summer Plan, the PP-A representative defended that “the reasonable and logical thing” would be to wait until the end of September to evaluate it and “make proposals”, while regarding the West Nile virus, he asked not to be “formidable”, but “proactive, to work in coordination” and with “institutional loyalty”.
All groups participate
For his part, the spokesperson for the Vox group, Manuel Gavira, did not deny the “importance” of the issues for which the PSOE-A requested the extraordinary plenary session, but stressed that “within two weeks” the councilors will appear. . of Health and Finance in parliamentary committee with the possibility of participation of “all groups” in these sessions. In this sense, he stressed that Vox could not “vote in favor of an extraordinary plenary session where only the PSOE-A intervenes”, even if the issues they wanted to discuss there were “of special importance”.
Also due to the fact that, if the extraordinary plenary session is called at the sole request of the PSOE-A, the socialist group would be the only one to intervene, the Por Andalucía group, whose spokesperson, Inmaculada, voted against the initiative, Nieto defended the convenience, in his opinion, for the Andalusian Government to provide explanations on the issues raised.
Regarding the Andalusian Government’s decree that replaces the prior control of expenditure files for certain subsidies with permanent financial control, Nieto stressed that his group is “much more concerned about the management of subsidies, of public money” by the Andalusian Executive. To this, he added “problems such as the tightening of access conditions” to subsidies that “leave many non-governmental organizations that play a fundamental role out of the possibility of benefiting from them.”
“Disastrous management” of the West Nile virus crisis
On the other hand, regarding the health issues for which the PSOE-A wanted the councilor of the sector to appear in an extraordinary plenary session, the spokesperson for Por Andalucía criticized the “evasion of responsibilities” that, according to her, the Council has committed itself to in relation to “the crisis generated by the West Nile virus” and its “disastrous management”, and in this sense she criticized the fact that the Council presented “late” the “risk map” that it must “make available to the provincial government.” advice.
Finally, Inmaculada Nieto argued that the Summer Plan of the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) “has come to aggravate a series of problems that have become chronic” in the Andalusian public health system, and that, “unfortunately, at the end of the summer “They are not going to improve”, as he predicted.
