ENSENYAT SAYS NEW COUNCIL OF MAJORCA IS AN “HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY”

Miquel Ensenyat (Més) officially took over as the president of the Council of Majorca yesterday, having secured the support of eighteen council delegates from his party, PSOE and Podemos with twelve against (the Partido Popular and Ciudadanos) and three abstentions (El Pi).
In a ceremony for taking office, the councillors were sworn in in a fashion similar to that for deputies to the Balearic parliament. They offered their loyalty to the King, the Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy and then, in the case of Més and Podemos councillors, added “without giving up the right for the people to decide”.
After this, Ensenyat made his inaugural speech, watched and listened to by the Balearic president, Francina Armengol, and the Speaker of parliament, Xelo Huertas.
In the speech, he admitted that the Council as an institution had been questioned, so he made clear that there had to be an improvement in making the Council an “open institution” close to the people and responsive to their needs, particularly those most affected by a crisis which he described as a “huge scam”.
 He said that no one should be alarmed at the prospect of the coalition administration, as it represented an “historic opportunity” to address the message given at the polls to bring the public into the decision-making process. “Democracy must be something more than putting a piece of paper in a ballot box every four years.”
Ensenyat also underlined the need to work more closely with town halls, regardless of which party governs them, and said that one of his first measures will be to “end the aberration of importing waste of doubtful origin from other countries in order to incinerate it at Son Reus”.
He also spoke of the need for a revised land plan for Majorca in order to end speculation in urban areas and the destruction of the natural landscape.
His speech, relatively short as he did not wish to deliver a sermon, ended with a pledge of openness and with a plea for people to be proud of their culture and to look forward with optimism to the future and to care for the needy.
What the other parties said:
Francesc Miralles of PSOE, who will be first vice-president, said he was proud to be part of an administration which, for the first time in Balearic history, will consist solely of parties from the left.
Jesus Jurado, Podemos, the second vice-president, spoke of the intention to change the essence of the Council, to make it strong and to give it powers envisaged in the Statute of Autonomy, with regard to, for example, tourism.
Maria Salom of the Partido Popular, the now ex-president of the Council, assured Ensenyat that he had been left a good inheritance as there are no outstanding invoices and a balance on the current account.
Take care in its administration, she advised him, and she warned that the PP will be vigilant in watching parties of the “extreme left”.
Antoni Pastor of El Pi called on Ensenyat to convene an extraordinary council meeting in order that his programme for government could be debated.
The spokesperson for Ciudadanos, Catalina Serra, asked for the Council to “exercise common sense” and to recognise that if particular proposals are good for the people they should be approved.
 She was the only party representative to use both Castellano and Catalan while making her speech.