“If with the help of the Autonomous Community this is very difficult, with the Community against, it would be even worse“With this sentence yesterday, behind closed doors, Pedro Sánchez explained to the members of the crisis cabinet his position in the management of the tragedy caused by DANA.
The thesis of the President of the Government is that the best and most operational is for Carlos Mazón to maintain command, being able to count on all the means that the State puts at his disposal.
It is for this reason that Sánchez announced during his appearance this Saturday that he would put all the means he needs in Mazón’s hands: “If you need more resources, ask for them“, said the president in the institutional statement offered by Moncloa.
During this public appearance Saturday morning, the president explained that “nor is it a central administration replacing the regional administration. We need to help him with resources.
Underlying this reasoning and position is controversy and doubt over whether the central government should have taken control of the crisis at some point.
To do so, he would have had to declare a national emergency, the highest measure of the scale provided by law. Until now it has remained at level two in which the Valencian Generalitat is the one that leads the management.
Carlos Mazonpresident of the Generalitat, maintains command and continues without asking the central government to assume it, although he has asked to incorporate a group of ministers in the management of the disaster. The government says Mazón was overwhelmed by events from the first moment.
The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, maintains that the rating should have been raised to level 3 of national emergency. Also secretary general of Podemos, Ione Belarrarequested that Sánchez declare a state of alarm so that he could use all the means of the State to face the disaster.
However, Moncloa believes that it is preferable for it to be managed by the autonomous community, closer to the ground, although it can request resources from the central government. In addition, the government ensures that the Mazón never asked to reach level three.
According to the government’s argument, during all the civil protection meetings, the communities asserted that they should be the ones responsible. The Ministry of the Interior, on its own initiative or at the request of the CCAA, may declare an emergency of national interest in accordance with Article 28 of the National Civil Protection System Law.
“The issue has been discussed within the National Civil Protection Commission, but neither the presidents of the Valencian Community, nor those of Murcia, Andalusia or Castile-La Mancha have asked the government to declare the situation of national emergency. This would mean losing their autonomy.since the State would assume control of the situation,” assures the government.
President Pedro Sánchez, this Saturday, during the crisis commission held in La Moncloa, accompanied by ministers Óscar Puente, Maríajesús Montero, Teresa Ribera and Ángel Víctor Torres.
Efe/Moncloa Swimming Pool/Borja Puig De La Bellacasa
According to the legal analysis carried out by the Executive, “Civil Protection is a competing competence, since several Administrations have assigned functions to it. The State has always respected the powers of the LACCby providing personal and material resources. Emergency Level 2 has now been declared, allowing the LACC to maintain control. “There is no precedent for a level 3, in which the state would assume full control of actions in an emergency.”
“This is why, say Executive sources, at emergency level 2, if the autonomous communities concerned requested it, the government could declare the emergency as being of national interest. , during the debate, they refused to do so“.
The government, however, considers that Mazón has always been overwhelmed by events. Due to the late activation of the alert, on Tuesday the 29th, when many people were already trapped by DANA and then refused the means proposed by the Central Government.
In fact, he interprets that the President of the Valencian Generalitat has de facto admitted this situation by first accepting the presence of the Minister of the Interior in his committee to direct the management and this Saturday by requesting the participation of several ministers directing action groups.
