Valencia (EFE).- The Valencia Provincial Electoral Board has declared that the statements made by the Minister of Science and Technology, Diana Morant, during a visit to the facilities of the Institute of Chemical Technology of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) of Valencia on June 16 violate the electoral law.
The PP filed a claim with the Electoral Board for a public act by Morant in her capacity as minister, with the general elections called and being the socialist candidate for Congress for Valencia.
From that public act, a notice was issued on the website of the CSIC and the Ministry of Science and Innovation in which Morant’s visit to the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ) was reported, “which has received 9 million euros from funds Europeans from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan to develop a hub for innovation in renewable energy and industrial decarbonisation”, according to the ministry’s press release.
“The minister also recalled that the Government is allocating the European funds from the Recovery Plan to create opportunities for our scientists with more stable contracts and better equipment in research centers,” she continued.
Demonstrations violate electoral law
The Electoral Board has considered that the demonstrations made by the minister that day during the institutional visit violate the prohibition arising from article 50.2 of the electoral law, which prohibits, from the calling of elections until they are held, any act organized or financed, directly or indirectly, by the public powers that contains allusions to the accomplishments or achievements obtained by the public authorities.
Hence, it also urges Diana Morant to order the withdrawal, during the remainder of the electoral period, of the official web pages of the ministry and of any institutional website of the aforementioned demonstrations, since in future institutional acts “extreme diligence” to avoid violating the principle of neutrality of public powers in the electoral process.
According to the resolution of the Electoral Board, dated June 30, which has been provided by the PP, it is not appropriate to initiate a sanction file against Morant.
Against it, an appeal can be filed with the Central Electoral Board within 24 hours of its notification.