The new Vice President of the Valencian Government, Aitana Mas, showed in her appearance at the Corts Valencianes her intention to become the benchmark for her party and the government beyond her powers as Minister of Equality and Inclusive Policies.
Without going into too much detail, the leader of Compromís hinted at several Education proposals such as the universalization of education from 0 to 3 years or the increase in dining room scholarships this same legislature. In addition, she launched a proposal that draws on the latest legislative initiative devised by her predecessor, Mónica Oltra, and that Mas wants to specify as soon as possible without waiting for the Equality Law to be approved.
An initiative that can bother the PSPV and that would happen because private companies in the hospitality sector that outsource cleaning services cannot benefit from public subsidies. "A nod to the kellys", they pointed out from their surroundings.
And it is that in her speech she was not limited to acting as Minister of Equality and Inclusive Policies. He also did so as a referent of a formation more to the left of the PSPV demanding the acceleration of the reversals of public services and demanding a reform of the financing system, the reestablishment of civil law and the immediate transfer of powers in Cercanías accompanied by the resources associated with its development.
Although it is not a debate that is still open -the duel is saved and Oltra's return is officially still awaited-, there are not a few who believe that, if she stands out in the remainder of the legislature, the Initiative leader could be an alternative the deputy Joan Baldoví (Més Compromís) as a candidate for the Generalitat Valenciana.
During his speech, Mas reiterated the need to "go further" as a government - he recalled that they are an executive based on codecision and respect - and stressed that it is necessary to "press with courageous measures that structurally transform to distance the voices that oppose our democracy.
However, much of his initial speech was dedicated to praising the "great task" carried out by his predecessor in office: "The transforming action of our government that has had a fundamental axis in the social policies developed by Vice President Oltra."
In case there was any doubt, the new vice president assumed the legacy and the road map of the resigned leader and, faced with criticism from the opposition, replied: "I am not going to change the policies that work." And as a button shows. Despite the fact that she left it in the air a few days ago, yesterday, Mas confirmed in her position the general director of Children and Adolescents, Rosa Molero, accused of precisely the same case that has forced Oltra to resign. "I have decided to keep my team. It is the moment of justice; it is a question of being respectful with the judicial procedures and the times that they mark", she declared from the tribune.
It was precisely this defense of Oltra's legacy that the opposition criticized the most. The deputy spokeswoman for the popular group and deputy secretary of social policy for the PP, Elena Bastidas, displeased her that she had not had "a word, or a gesture of solidarity for the victim of abuse, whom they have persecuted even in the delivery room" . Bastidas came to describe Mas as "Oltra's avatar".
"They boast a lot about having the largest budget in history in social policies, but the reality is that the Valencian Community is in a worse situation because it is not about the amount of resources but about the management of those resources," Bastidas lamented. .
For her part, the deputy of Ciudadanos María Quiles referred to Mas as the "white mark of Oltra" and accused him of looking the other way in the case of the sexual abuse of the former vice president's ex-husband. "If she follows Oltra's line she will have us in front of her," she warned.
Finally, Ana Vega (Vox) explained that "if she really wanted to improve the unfortunate situation in which Mónica Oltra left the Ministry, she would order tomorrow to start a thorough investigation into the real situation of absolutely abandoned juvenile centers".
