Mazón doesn't respond to Les Corts and outrages the opposition: "It's a scam"

ValenciaAn exculpatory account, admitting no wrongdoing and refusing to answer any questions. Furthermore, he boasted of being the politician who has provided the most explanations about the DANA storm, taking advantage of the fact that state representatives have refused to appear before the regional parliament. This is what the acting head of the Valencian government, Carlos Mazón, offered this Tuesday before the Valencian Parliament's commission investigating the disaster. "It's a mockery," reproached the spokesperson for Compromís, Joan Baldoví, who complained that Mazón had read a prepared speech and dodged the opposition's requests for information.

Mazón's appearance, which offered no new details beyond those already known thanks to Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra's investigation, was heavily constrained by a format that requires all questions to be asked at once and does not allow for follow-up if they are ignored. "Why did you stay after lunch?" an angry Baldoví insisted. "A president who doesn't cancel his schedule and doesn't do everything he can to save his people is a public danger," he added. "Go to the Catarroja courts if you respect the victims," the progressive politician concluded in response to the silence of the PP leader, who dismissed the opposition's questions as "sterile controversies." During his speech, the still-acting Valencian president repeated the arguments he has been using for months, which include falsehoods such as the claim that, according to the Spanish Meteorological Agency, 180 liters of rain per square meter were expected on October 29, while the institution itself had expected 180 liters per square meter. He also overlooked the fact that the Emergency Department had rainfall data and the flow rate of the Poio ravine—provided by the Júcar River Basin Authority—in addition to the thousands of calls from those affected—which overwhelmed the phone lines—and hydrological alerts issued at midday by the Generalitat itself. In fact, these are the cornerstones of Tobarra's investigation, which concluded that the regional government's handling of the emergency shows "overwhelming evidence of negligence" and that the Cecopio seemed like a "bubble isolated from the outside world".

Mazón has reiterated that no one asked his permission to send the alert about the DANA storm: "I wasn't out of contact at lunch; I was attentive and making calls." He also maintained that his political responsibilities have already "been assumed" and defined the Emergency Services as "an information receiving body" and not a decision-making body. This is an astonishing statement when it comes to the institution legally entrusted with civil protection functions.

In response to Mazón's exculpatory account, the Socialist spokesperson, José Muñoz, asked the PP politician why he resigned if he considers himself so innocent and maintains that he had no responsibilities at the Cecopio (Emergency Coordination Center). "You're not a victim. If you give that speech outside, what happened at the state funeral would pale in comparison," an irate PSPV leader reproached him, alluding to the gathering of victims outside the Valencian Parliament. the booing he received on October 29thHe also reminded him that he did not provide the messages he exchanged with former councilor Salomé Pradas or with other administration officials, and that the call log he submitted is incomplete. Slightly angrier than Muñoz, and with a very sour tone, Joan Baldoví insisted on defining the commission as a "scam and a disgrace" and focused on the fact that Mazón had not reported where he went after saying goodbye to journalist Maribel Vilaplana at 6:00 p.m. This refers to the moment when the acting president's whereabouts were unknown and when he did not answer Pradas's repeated phone calls. Despite the opposition's attacks, Mazón, who appeared very serious and subdued, remained calm and avoided direct confrontation with the spokespeople for Compromís and the PSPV.

The acting head of the Valencian government was reassured by the intervention of Vox deputy José María Llanos, who reinforced the PP politician's arguments regarding the alleged abandonment of the Valencian Community by the central government in the days following the disaster. The far-right party focused on the Spanish government and asked, "Why is the army there? They didn't make an appearance in the affected towns for four days," a rather inaccurate statement. In contrast, Mazón only had one half-hearted criticism: that the government had offered different versions of events and that these changes had contributed to the imposition of the "Sanchismo narrative." The most noteworthy element of PP deputy Fernando Pastor's intervention was his accusation that the PSPV and Compromís parties were "exploiting the victims." In fact, he said that the state executive differentiated at the state funeral between "VIP" victims—those critical of Mazón—and those in the "grandstand"—those who focus their reproaches on Sánchez. He also congratulated the acting Valencian president for "standing up when some were spreading rumors from Paiporta," referring to the attack the Spanish president suffered when he visited the town on November 3, 2014.