Santander (EFE).- A united regionalism has gathered this Sunday to close ranks around the former Minister of Public Works of Cantabria, José Luis Gochicoa and to defend that the party is “clean” of corruption despite the alleged plot of rigging in road contracts in that Ministry, which has led him to resign.
“We are an honest party”, the president of Cantabria and leader of the PRC, Miguel Ángel Revilla, claimed during his speech before the thousand attendees from all over Cantabria who attended the tribute to Gochicoa at the Santander Exhibition Center.
This tribute meal has been held amidst criticism from the Cantabrian opposition, which has accused the party of throwing “a party to corruption” and even from the PSOE, the PRC’s government partner in Cantabria, whose general secretary, Pablo Zuloaga, opined yesterday Saturday that “is not time for celebrations.”
“I have nothing to hide, not even this party, that’s why he makes this meal, why won’t he do it?” Revilla cried, who stated that “they have tried to prevent this event from taking place” and it has ” encouraged people to come” to rebuke the party, but has assured that it should be held to “reaffirm the party’s commitment against corruption.”
One hundred tables and a thousand covers
The food, one hundred tables and one thousand covers, has been enlivened by several singers, who have interpreted rancheras and versions from the classic in the regionalist acts “Viento del Norte” to “A sailboat called freedom”, by José Luis Perales.
Revilla has insisted that the PRC is “the only party in Spain” that has never been convicted of corruption and has ironized the small group of people who have come to the door of the Palacio de Exposiciones to rebuke the regionalists. “There were seven,” she pointed out.
“Here is Revilla, that they investigate me, that they look for something in my life”, has challenged the leader, who has also made the rest of the parties ugly, citing the PP, that they “talk about corruption”.
According to Revilla, the PRC has “to show its face” even though there is “no regionalist politician involved” in the alleged case of corruption allegedly directed by a head of the Public Works service, which according to the investigation formed a family plot to introduce into the circuit legal money that he received from companies for favoring them in contracts with the administration.
During the meal, in which mountain stew, cod and rice pudding were served, Revilla and the candidate for Mayor of Santander, Felipe Piña, praised Gochicoa’s management at the head of the Ministry, “the best” according to the president.
Also present at the event was Gochicoa’s number 2 in Public Works, Manuel del Jesus, who also resigned due to these events and of whom Revilla has stated, he is “sure that it has never occurred to him to put a hand in it.”
During the act, the president denied that it was the “worst moment” for the PRC and claimed his popularity.
Gochicoa will campaign
The regionalist leader has assured that Gochicoa “is going to participate in the electoral campaign people to people” despite his recent resignation because “it is essential” for the party and has insisted that, if the PRC governs, “it will return” to the regional administration after 28M.
“Something has gone wrong for this goal to slip through,” Revilla pointed out about Gochicoa’s departure.
During his speech, Gochicoa valued his management at the head of the Ministry and lamented that “an official had been stealing for 20 years” and they had “never noticed”.
He has defined the acts of the official as “the antithesis of what the PRC defends” and has stressed that the party could not “hide” and had “to show its face.”
The former counselor has said he feels “impressed” by the number of people who have come to the tribute to show their support after “a terrible misfortune” that has been, he has stated, “unexpected and unpleasant”. “I have not felt alone”, he has thanked him.
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