The president decided to remove the Minister of Housing and Territorial Planning from his post. At noon, Guido Manini Ríos will speak at a conference.
President Luis Lacalle Pou requested the resignation of the Minister of Housing and Territorial Planning (MVOT), Irene Moreiraafter the scandal over the delivery of a house without a raffle to a militant of Open Town Hall (CA).
The government has no peace. After managing to save the coalition and the social security reform without new or major inconveniences —after arduous negotiations with the sector led by Guido Manini Rios and later with the Colorado Party—, it seemed that the ruling party would have a period of truce, without major problems. However, the news that the head of the MVOT would have directly benefited a militant from her party with the award of a State house, became a new controversy that would lead Moreira to step aside.
The news of the request for resignation by Lacalle Pou was disseminated by the journalist Ignacio Álvarez and confirmed by the lobbyist deputy Alvaro Perrone in statements to Channel 12: “It is so. The first thing we have to say is that We do not share the request for resignation”, he pointed out, and insisted that “the ministry has acted according to what the ministerial guidelines establish, it has not innovated at all”, insisted the legislator, who reiterated that the portfolio “has been managed with the regulations that come from administrations previous”. “We fully support the actions of both the minister and the team,” he said.
Moreira had been summoned by the president on Wednesday to give explanations about the delivery of the house directly to Monica Mabel Piriz Ciria. At the meeting, the minister had indicated that she had nothing to hide, and that the award had been made according to the MVOT procedures and regulations. “There is a quota that is my reserve and many times I have not even used it, it is for specific cases,” she explained.
Likewise, the lobbying official had assured that Lacalle Pou understood her perfectly and that had his support in this situation. However, hours later —and after the express discomfort that the scandal generated in the white ranks—, the president asked him to resign.
For his part, the senator —and husband of the minister— Manini Ríos, will give a press conference at 12, in which it is expected that, at least, there will be a threat of rupture of the Multicolor Coalition, party sources confirmed to Ámbito.com
Why did the scandal originate?
At the end of 2021, the MVOT opened a call to deliver homes with up to three bedrooms there through a raffle, however, the minister would have left the “reserved space” in question. Moreira’s secretary, roel bottarisent an email to the national director of Housing, Jorge Cerettaexplaining that it was in the minister’s interest that one of those two-bedroom apartments in the building be awarded directly to Píriz Ciria.
“Good morning, It is of interest to Minister Dr. Irene Moreira, that the reserved space in the New York esq. yi of two bedrooms is awarded to Mónica Mabel Píriz Ciria and her daughter. His ID number is XXXXX and his phone number is XXXXX. Thank you very much in advance,” said the email accessed by 970 Universal.
The disclosure of this exchange was what generated the general malaise both in the government and in society. For his part, he National Party has planned a meeting on Monday in a climate of anger that the confusing situation could be a political mistake. While from the broad front They described Moreira’s actions as “clientelism” and are analyzing his call to appear in Parliament.
Source: Ambito
