The resignation of the general director of Valencian public radio and television opens a new front in the multilateral crisis of the Consell chaired by Carlos Mazón following DANA. The departure of Alfred Costa, which saw the president offer his position to a journalist during a meal, leaves the public company that manages À Punt in a legal limbo. The law that regulates the current company is not in force and the new law provides for the creation of another public company that does not even have the foundations.
The À Punt law has been repealed since June 28, when the rule approved by PP and Vox in the Cortes came into force. The right and far right urgently passed a law creating a new state-owned company, with the intention of absorbing media and public broadcasting workers. The idea led by the PP and its far-right partners was to create these bodies before the end of the year, taking advantage of their majority in the Chamber.
The fact is that since June they have made no progress in establishing this new company. The current rule establishes that within one month the Valencian courts must appoint the board of directors of public radio and television: seven councilors will be appointed by the Chamber and an eighth by the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and provinces, which also controls the PP. . Well into November, the parliamentary committee was not even convened to propose the candidates. We only know that the PP had a positive view of Sergio Peláez, director of COPE of Valencia, who is also not officially confirmed as president of the new entity. And that Carlos Mazón wanted the journalist Maribel Vilaplana to be general director of television, an executive function which, according to the law, must be chosen by the board of directors.
The current law provides for a dysfunctional transitional provision: until the new entity is created, À Punt will be governed by the previous law. Concretely, it is indicated: “Both CVMC and SMCV will continue their activity, maintaining the validity of Law 6/2016 during the essential period until the constitution of the new company and the effective start of its activity”. That is to say, it is expected that a public company that manages 85 million euros operates with a law that is not in force. And the more than 400 employees have been like this for five months.
To avoid a power vacuum, the rule approved by the left-wing coalition in 2016 and eliminated by the right, provides that in the event of a vacancy in the position of general director, the chairman of the board of directors will provisionally assume his functions. Thus, it is Miquel Francés who will be responsible for television until the Valencian courts promote the new structure. A new interim situation for the public entity.
According to legal sources consulted by elDiario.es, if a new general director was appointed, he would not have legal cover, because the procedure has no legal basis. It no longer exists. The outlook for Valencian public radio and television is completely uncertain, although it was characterized by widespread media coverage during the disaster. This will be another front for President Mazón.
