Friday’s session of the Commission of Inquiry into Public Procurement of the Xunta de Galicia was one of the most anticipated due to the presence of the president, Alfonso Rueda. So much so that that day the opposition leaders appeared: Ana Pontón, who was only present on the first day of the hearings, and José Ramón Gómez Besteiro, who was present for the first time. Perhaps this is why both used arguments contrary to those defended by the vast majority of speakers, reiterating the presence of Álvaro Cunqueiro’s alleged overcharge and irregularities in the contract. Although, at the beginning of his appearance, Rueda highlighted the importance of parliamentary mechanisms as an example of the “democratic strength of Galician institutions”, he also highlighted the “non-specificity” of the commission launched by the BNG which, according to he used it “as a container for everything that came to mind to make it something that today even its promoters cannot define.” Its appearance, he said, seems to be the result of “revenge” for the “decision taken by the Galicians a few months ago”, “an attempt to move us towards the country of toxicity and unrest “continued activities of national policy” and According to him, it is probably also a “staging” in front of the National Assembly and the Congress of Socialists which are on the calendar. His intention in his appearance on Friday, he said, is none other than to defend the good work of Xunta technicians since 2009 and in previous legislatures, regarding the purpose of the commission. Thus, he defended both the process chosen for the construction of Álvaro Cunqueiro and the contracts concluded during the pandemic, affirming that the suppliers with whom the Xunta contracted, such as Universal Support or Mape Asesores, were part of the macro-agreement state of reference suppliers. . “Everything is done in accordance with the law. Ladies and gentlemen, there were no Koldos or Aldamas here. “This happened within the Spanish government,” he criticized, at the same time attacking opposition groups, notably the BNG, for not having criticized with the same force the alleged cases of corruption of their “partners” in Madrid. “In Galicia, fortunately, this did not happen and therefore we have no reason to be ashamed.” Already in the response, the intention of the different groups was clear. The first to speak was Armando Ojea, from Democracia Ourensana, who recalled that he had supported the constitution of the commission with one objective, “transparency”, motivated by the report of the Consello de Contas. However, he added, “a significant portion of the speakers present here seem to agree that [la licitación público-privada] It was the “only way to do the hospital”. Something that was reiterated on Thursday by the representative of the Garrigues company, responsible for making a report within the bipartisan group analyzing the viability of the construction of the hospital, who confirmed that the public tender by the The intermediary of the Sociedade Pública de Investimento would not allow the deficit targets to be respected marked by the EU due to the crisis. This formula is, according to the opposition, the one they were going to use, even if they insist that there was “no report” showing that this was not viable. Anyway, for the man from Orense, what is clear is that today the health zone of Vigo benefits from an infrastructure “at the forefront of Europe” , that is why he used his intervention – as he usually does – to refer to Orense and demand a similar infrastructure for the city, “even if it has to take risky decisions like that of doing it according to a public formula- private”. Something that, according to the president, would not be necessary, because “fortunately” today the financial situation is different, demonstrating, in turn, the commitment of the province to move forward in improving health infrastructure. For their part, in their interventions, neither Pontón nor Besteiro said anything new, although it was one of the first times they attended the hearings, the first for the socialist. Both spoke of Cunqueiro’s alleged additional cost of 470 million euros, the opacity and lack of transparency of the administration, the splitting of contracts and favoritism towards companies close to the Popular Party. The president was called a “Trumpist” and a “feijóo squire,” which was repeated during the session. So many questions which were refuted by the popular spokesperson, Alberto Pazos, who accused both the nationalists and the socialists of “obstructing” the investigation with “accusations denied” by other appearances. Among them, I cite Contas’ senior advisors, who said that if there was any indication of illegality in the hospital report, it would be sent to the prosecutor’s office, but this was not the case. . Just as they explained that there was no additional cost, or that the chosen modality was the only viable option, as recognized by the consulting firm hired by the bipartisan. The emergency contract was also validated, he recalled, in which Contas also saw no sign of illegality, and reiterated that contracts with Eulen are made in other countries, throughout the world. Spain and in administrations of all political colors. In fact, according to the most popular, between the bipartisan mandate and Feijóo’s first term, hiring at this company decreased by 65%. Likewise, on an annual average, contracts with this company hardly varied from one government to another, only in hundredths, both being around 4.7 million. “This is what makes the difference between what is and what is not favoritism,” the president had already wondered the previous week, presenting the same data. Regardless, the big question of the week remained unanswered. And Pazos and Rueda repeated to the nationalist the same question they had asked her a few weeks ago, namely whether or not she could confirm that no person in her immediate environment had a minor contract with the administrations governed by the BNG. Question which, once again, remained unanswered.
