Mazón opens a "reflection" after the victims' booing: "I take responsibility for yesterday"

ValenciaTime to reflect and decide. Also to negotiate with Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and always keeping a watchful eye on things. Monday's statement by journalist Maribel Vilaplana He must tell the judge about the DANA storm whether he knows if Carlos Mazón influenced the delayed dispatch of the SE-Alert on the day of the catastrophe. This is what the Valencian president requested this Thursday, the day after being booed. labeled a "murderer" and a "traitor" At the state funeral for the victims of the torrential rains.

As the head of the Valencian government explained to the media, he intends to "reflect" and, based on that, make "an appearance in the coming days." "I take responsibility for yesterday; I keep thinking about what these days mean and what they have meant," he said at the Prince Felip Museum, the same venue where the funeral was held on Wednesday. At this point, few know the scope of his reflection or his appearance, but sources from the President's office consulted by ARA limit it to Mazón's participation in the parliamentary inquiry committees of the Valencian Parliament, the Congress, and the Senate. They are not talking about resignation, but no one in the Valencian Community is willing to bet on it.

What could possibly prevent Mazón's resignation is the investigation into the DANA storm, since it would mean that the Valencian president would lose his parliamentary immunity if his term as a member of parliament also ended. Judge Nuria Ruiz Tobarra seems unwilling to lose the case, as indicting the head of the Valencian government would entail, but Vilaplana's testimony and a hypothetical loss of immunity for the PP leader could change everything, and Mazón knows it.

Vilaplana's testimony

A source very close to the former Minister of Justice and the Interior, Salomé Pradas, spoke this Thursday about Vilaplana's statement on Monday. in statements in the newspaper The Country He asserted that he trusts the journalist "will tell the whole truth, that she will explain everything she knows, like any other witness." "We also don't know today what happened at this non-lunch," he added. The same source has tried to distance the Valencian president from the ES-Alert deployment in order to exonerate him legally, but his words politically expose Mazón. "[Pradas] didn't ask [the head of the Consell] anything at all, she only passed on information. Decisions had already been made at Cecopio. [The former councilor] didn't wait for anyone's approval. If she had, perhaps we'd still be waiting."

A good indicator of the crossroads at which the Popular Party finds itself is that the leaders who on Monday assured ARA that Mazón's future had not become complicated despite the Polls revealed that the politician from Alicante has lost the support of PP votersThis Thursday, they no longer dare to guarantee anything. The only one still standing by the head of the Valencian government is the president of the Valencia Provincial Council, Vicent Mompó, who today stated that the state funeral was "orchestrated" by the Moncloa Palace, which "exploited the victims." Regarding the future, Mazón has only indicated that the party is conducting internal analyses "that remain within the party." Much more forceful was the Deputy Secretary of Regional and Municipal Policy and Electoral Analysis for the PP, Elías Bendodo, who predicted that Mazón will be around for a while and that bad luck to "whoever doesn't like it." The Málaga leader argued that the president of the Generalitat still "has important work ahead of him" and that "he already assumed responsibility" when "regional ministers resigned" and "apologies were offered."

Vox leader Santiago Abascal has also been outspoken, asserting that the criticism of Mazón is an attempt to cover up Sánchez's responsibility for the DANA storm. He even accused Popular Party leaders of participating in a supposed "lynching." These words contrast sharply with those Abascal himself uttered on Tuesday when he stated that "it is obvious" that the Valencian president "is lying" about the various versions that have been givenHe also maintained that his party does not support him, but rather limits itself to supporting the budgets for "rebuilding" the devastated areas, and that it will be up to Alberto Núñez Feijóo "to remove or appoint" the Valencian president. And although he may want to avoid it, Mazón's situation also jeopardizes the future of the PP leader. Not having forced him to resign throws a wrench in the works of the Galician politician's strategy to bring the Spanish government closer to him through the Cerdán, Ábalos, and Koldo cases, and weakens a key PP stronghold like the Valencian Community. Also on Thursday, 418 people from the DANA Horta Sud Valencia Victims Association explained that they have filed a lawsuit for more than 58 million euros against the Generalitat (Valencian Government) and the Júcar River Basin Authority. The lawsuit encompasses damages to all kinds of material assets, such as homes, cars, factories, industrial buildings, and machinery, as well as emotional distress, including anxiety, insomnia, fear of storms, and loss of quality of life. The lawsuit includes 12 families who lost 6 members, and claims for damages to 107 homes, 102 vehicles, and 12 businesses.