The Parliament is divided over the response to the irregularities detected by Antifrau

The response that the Parliament has given to the requirements of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC) to correct the irregularities detected in matters of hiring and remuneration of officials has not pleased the minority groups of the Chamber, who consider that it is " inconsistent" and suffers from a "weak" argumentation.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
11 December 2023 Monday 21:32
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The Parliament is divided over the response to the irregularities detected by Antifrau

The response that the Parliament has given to the requirements of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC) to correct the irregularities detected in matters of hiring and remuneration of officials has not pleased the minority groups of the Chamber, who consider that it is " inconsistent" and suffers from a "weak" argumentation.

This has been reported by the third secretary of the Board, Carles Riera, of the CUP, who offered a press conference this Tuesday afternoon to explain that in the meeting held in the morning he did not have enough time to study the report presented by the secretary general, which has been adopted by the remaining members of the governing body, Junts, the PSC and ERC, which make up six of the seven positions.

Specifically, the report prepared by Albert Capelleras in response to the one sent by Antifrau to the Parliament assumes some of the approaches of the office directed by Miguel Ángel Gimeno, such as the need to review the licenses by age granted in advance when the institution has already He worked for the revocation of these golden early retirements that were negatively affecting his public image.

But in the hundred pages that he dedicates to analyzing the OAC's requirements, the Secretary General of the Parliament also discards some of the proposals and justifies most of the actions that Antifrau questioned: of the eleven points contained in the report, those of which one did not appear in the anonymous complaint that motivated it, only in four, relating to licenses based on age and the conflict of interest in one position as a lawyer and two as an usher, review processes will be initiated. In two others, informative actions will be opened on which the legal advisory commission will have to decide.

Thus, the Board has decided to review the internal regime procedures to update the administration and adopt measures that give "a new impetus to modernization", in a process that is intended to be done with transparency, dialogue with workers and consensus, according to parliamentary sources have explained, who have highlighted the harmony exhibited by the president, Anna Erra, of Junts, and the two vice presidents, Alba Vergés, of ERC, and Assumpta Escarp, of the PSC.

In the note accompanying the Secretary General's report, which has been sent this afternoon, as the stipulated deadline is about to expire, to the OAC, it is stated that the Bureau intends to carry out "an in-depth review of some of the aspects raised by Antifrau with the objective of continuing to advance the changes initiated in 2022 to improve administration and rise to the challenges of the 21st century."

But these good intentions are not enough for the CUP, which has demanded the convening of an expanded Board, as originally planned, to address the matter with all groups in the Chamber, including those that are not represented in the body. rector. "The Parliament has to be an example of transparency, rigor and rationality," Riera stated when announcing that her group would register this request.

For his part, the leader of Ciudadanos, Carlos Carrizosa, has asked to take all the necessary steps to end the image of "enchufismo" and has pointed out that the irregularities detected by the OAC date back to 1980, with the first Government of Jordi Pujol , so, in his opinion, the secretary general should not act as the Parliament's "lawyer" in the face of facts that show a "lack of care" in the procedures of an institution that he sees as "prone" to being motivated by political interests.

Nor do the commons endorse the Parliament's response to Antifrau: "We regret that what they want to do is kick the ball forward," said the spokesperson for Catalunya en Comú, David Cid, for whom the meeting should also have been held. the expanded Table: "This decision corresponds to the Table and the presidency of the Parliament and it has been a long time since we shared what they do in relation to certain situations," he said in reference to the opposition of the commons to the controversial licenses based on age and the retirement and employment awards for Chamber officials, who have been temporarily suspended.