Francisco José Gan Pampols moved to the front line today with the announcement of his appointment as vice-president for economic and social reconstruction of the Valencian Generalitat. However, he is no stranger to the media. Retired lieutenant general, he was a regular on the screens to address issues related to geopolitics and armies in an educational manner.
This experience ensures that it will now be put at the service of the reconstruction of Valencia after the devastation caused by DANA, avoiding any partisan debate with a deadline. “I have an advantage: I’m not a politician, I don’t expect anything from politics and as soon as it’s over, I go home, that’s where I’m happiest,” he says , clearly revealing a second problem: his task begins now and he does not want to promote anything from the management carried out so far.
– How did you decide to accept this responsibility?
Well, it has a poetic beginning but it is something that every soldier has internalized. One of the lines of Calderón’s poem referring to the army says: “Here the most important feat is to obey and the way it should be is neither to ask nor to refuse. All of us in the military learn this and have internalized it our entire lives. So I never asked but I can’t refuse something because it’s a spirit of service. If you swear to defend Spain, it does not expire.
– Do you therefore consider this work as another service rendered to Spain and the Spanish people?
That’s how it is. Exclusively. My work is not at all intended to improve an image, nor to generate profit. It aims to resolve a very serious problem that my compatriots suffer from, by restoring their living conditions as quickly as possible, generating hope and a future.
-How did you get here? When did Carlos Mazón contact you?
Last week. The president called me, I had an interview with him. I explained to him what I wasn’t, what I didn’t expect, he accepted my point of view and I said yes.
– What were these conditions?
The conditions are that the work I am going to do is outside the framework of discussion and political confrontation, because it is of a technical nature; that a fundamental consensus was needed between the main parties to move public and political debate away from the question of reconstruction; that on the technical aspect, all suggestions and indications were admitted, but that there could be neither technical nor partisan indications. And the last one was to allow me to choose a team from among these people with whom we could actually unite a team and carry out this task.
– Even if you want to distance yourself from this political debate, you are part of a government. Are you ready to face the confrontation that sometimes prevails in institutions?
If I limit myself exclusively to the field of reconstruction, yes.
– Beyond that you will not accept any dispute?
I accepted this position knowing that I have political responsibility in the field of reconstruction. For the rest, I obviously asked not to be considered a member of the party, which I am not.
– The position is called vice-presidency for economic and social recovery, a goal that now seems distant. How do you approach the task?
The basic plan is to try to normalize the situation as quickly as possible. There is one aspect that must be highlighted, which is that at the moment they are still in an emergency situation, they are operating in an emergency situation with alert level 2 and elements which attempt to re-establish the minimum conditions, the bases. From then on, when the emergency subsides, reconstruction work will begin. What do I want to achieve? First, solve the problem of people, of those who have lost things, of the self-employed so that they can regain their productive capacity. They cannot feel helpless and must find a way to make a living or they will leave. And if this ability is lost, it cannot be regained. We must tackle the industrial part, the loss of productive capacity must be recovered as quickly as possible because it is the element which attracts the most population to the territory because it is the one which guarantees living conditions. Infrastructure must be provided so that these businesses have the opportunity to return to normalcy. And at the same time and from the start, we must begin a prevention and protection plan because these phenomena will be repeated, these phenomena are recurring. There’s no point waiting until next summer to see what happens, you need to do it now. It is not only an autonomous administration, but also a general state administration.
– Do you hope to be able to overcome the differences between administrations?
I believe that if there is no generosity in approach and nobility of spirit, the result will be extremely harmful for those who are not capable of understanding it. Because public opinion is one thing and published opinion is another. In the end, everyone knows where he got stuck and who helped him.
– Do you set an end date for this responsibility? Did he come to politics to stay or do you anticipate his retirement once reconstruction is complete?
In no case do I plan to stay in the political world. My firm commitment from now on is that as soon as this is up and running, not finished, in progress, functional, with all the models of coordination, control, direction established, and each task in operation, I am leaving .
– And he will leave with the hope of having succeeded in keeping the reconstruction away from the political conflict
That’s how it is. I will appear at my request before the Courts, I will explain who I am and what I do. I want to understand that there will be enough viewing height to understand what I’m aiming for. I suppose there will be those who will criticize head-on and shoot. It doesn’t matter to me so much, but rather that the majority of Valencians accept that someone like me, outside of politics, intervenes and does it as I am going to do it.
– Given the scale of the tragedy, do you expect this reconstruction work to take a long time?
I can’t tell you, I would like to say a deadline but that is impossible because these recovery models are subject to daily developments. We will develop a plan that will be developed into programs that will have an execution model. But between the economic resource, the human resource, the material availability,… we have to be realistic. What you can’t do is despair, what you can’t do is not do it because it’s complex. Tenacity is water, this destructive ability must be used productively, drilling into a stone when necessary.
– You will have to make decisions that will be controversial or little applauded by citizens, such as the decision to prohibit construction in certain places. Do you have a strong will for this?
Difficult decisions are the privilege of rank. I will take them because hydrologists, civil engineers, watershed and construction specialists tell me that these are lands on which construction is not permitted. It’s not allow or not allow, it’s that it’s forbidden. It’s over. We must act once and for all because permissiveness is part of what we are witnessing.
– There have been many controversies over the role of the armed forces. How do you rate his performance? Could anything have been done differently?
No rating, no comments. My situation starts from this moment and I am looking forward to it.
– Will your military capabilities contribute to the recovery?
I don’t doubt it. In our training model, the commitment to making informed decisions, to controlling the situation, to having situational awareness, to surrounding yourself with the best people to have the best advice and ultimately decide, with the necessary speed, without delay, paralysis by analysis. ; This is all military. And then, the spirit of service. I have an advantage: I’m not a politician, I don’t expect anything from politics and as soon as it’s over, I go home, that’s where I’m happiest.
