Rebellion in Madrid: three deputies resign the day after Ayuso dismissed her Education Minister
Emilio Viciana claims that his dismissal was "at his own request"
BarcelonaIsabel Díaz Ayuso dismissed her Education Minister, Emilio Viciana, on Monday, and the decision has had repercussions within the Madrid branch of the People's Party (PP). On Tuesday morning, three PP members of the Madrid Assembly resigned: Pablo Posse, Mónica Lavín, and Carlota Pasarón. Posse was the first to announce his resignation, doing so during the Education Committee meeting held that morning in the Assembly. There, according to the EFE news agency, Posse—who until now was the PP's spokesperson on Education in the Madrid Assembly—also explained that these three resignations would not be the only ones, as two directors general from the Ministry would also be stepping down: Nicolás Javier Casas, Director General of Universities; and María Luz Rodríguez de Llera, Director General of Secondary Education, Vocational Training, and Special Education. Sources within the Madrid government maintain that no other dismissals have been approved at this time.
According to the Madrid PP, the resignations of Posse, Lavín –until now the PP's spokesperson for Social Policy in the Assembly– and Pasarón –spokesperson for Youth– are due to "personal reasons" of the three deputies, but the truth is that the resignations came the very next morning. The first reshuffle in Ayuso's government apparently did not sit well with the three PP deputies who have left the Assembly. The now former Minister of Education stated this Tuesday that his resignation was "at his own request" and thanked the Madrid president, in a message to X, for the opportunity to have served in the position for the past few years. Viciana will be replaced by Mercedes Zarzalejo. In fact, according to Europa Press, the new minister will also form her own team, and therefore, some officials will not resign voluntarily. Posse has indicated that there are two directors general who would like to resign.
According to Europa Press, the three deputies who resigned were part of a circle that was called the popcornsThey were part of a theater group directed by Antonio Castillo Algarra, an advisor to Ayuso. He is also one of the three artistic directors of the Spanish Ballet of the Community of Madrid and a close associate of the current Minister of Education.
The change in the Madrid Ministry of Education comes amid negotiations on the regional university law and the controversy surrounding the underfunding of public universitiesAccording to the Ayuso government, the change is motivated by a need for change and the implementation of a university model that, in Ayuso's opinion, the now former Minister of Education failed to lead. Specifically, the Madrid president had commissioned Viciana "more than two years ago" to develop "a program to support, strengthen, and modernize Madrid's universities," which she did not see fulfilled. Therefore, she "has decided to give new impetus" to the Ministry with the appointment of Zarzalejo. The opposition has seized upon this first crisis of Ayuso's government, and both Más Madrid and the PSOE have agreed that the Madrid PP is "falling apart" after witnessing "the failure" of its education policy. Thus, the general secretary of the Madrid Socialists, Óscar López, wrote to X that "the dismissals and resignations" are happening because Ayuso "cannot bring the university rectors to heel with her sectarian university law." The spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Assembly, Manuela Bergerot, added that "Ayuso's enforcers are falling in the face of Ayuso's failure in universities and in all areas of Madrid's public education system."
