The resignation of the president of the delegation of Uruguay in the Mixed Technical Commission (CTM) of Salto Grande, Carlos Albisu, was well received in the ranks of Open Town Hall (CA)but for the sector led by Guido Manini Ríos —one of the most critical of the government despite being part of the coalition led by the president Luis Lacalle Pou— is not enough and requires that the agency’s actions in both the management of public funds and contracting be thoroughly investigated.
He Broad Front (FA) and Town meeting They are polar opposites on most political issues, but lately they tend to agree on one particular point: being a headache for the government. In the case of lobbyists, the inconvenience is twofold: every time they point out, complain or criticize the administration of the Multicolor Coalition, light the fuse internal discomfort always latent—to the point of having put at risk the continuity of the political agreement between member parties.
The scandal over allegations of political patronage around the CTM of Salto Grande was no exception. In fact, the sector led by Manini Ríos was the one that granted the necessary votes to call the Minister of Economy and Finance (MEF), Azucena Arbelecheand to the chancellor Francisco Bustillo next October 3 —which is still standing, as confirmed by the Frente Amplista bench—; and the one who requested an audit from the organization.
Now, after Albisu’s resignation, CA is not backing down on its claims. “Before Albisu resigned, we had already said that he had to resign, because there were many things that did not have logical answers. Since his resignation, although something necessary has been accomplished, there is still something missing. review the contracts wellthe way in which it was spent, if the use of public money that the commission used was done in compliance with the function for which it exists,” Manini Ríos said at a press conference.
“I think that all that part is in the debit, that’s why from the first day we asked for a audit or accountability clear. Surely in these next few days there will be news in this regard,” added the senator.
Asked whether a investigative commission at parliamentary level On this topic, he responded: “They are paths that can be followed. You have to see how everything is processed up to the questioning and in the questioning itself what information is provided. Then we solve. Nothing is ruled out.”
“I think clearly (Albisu) did not have the necessary political support to continue in office,” considered the lobbyist leader, and added that with the request for resignation from his party “No one intends to hit the government”. “There is something here that makes noise and one does not want to clarify it as much as possible. “We want things to be done well, no matter what hair is in charge,” he assured, removing political weight from the coalition already tense due to the position taken by the lobbyists.
Domenech upped the ante and pointed to Lacalle Pou
The one who had the most aggressive speech was the president of the party and also a senator, Guillermo Domenech, who considered that Albisu’s resignation is “a palliative” and that “it does not resolve the situation.” “We cannot through that validate allegedly illegal acts from the political and administrative point of view, and perhaps even criminal,” he stated during the press conference.
For Domenech, a investigation that gives an account of the circumstances of the hiring, as well as corroborating the political, administrative and legal responsibilities in case there have been irregularities “that one presumes there were.” “People deserve to be clear about what the situation was,” he added.
Likewise, the president of Town meeting went one step further than Manini Ríos—who, surprisingly, maintained a moderate tone when pointing out the political responsibilities behind the controversy—and maintained that Lacalle Pou “has responsibility ‘in choosing’ because he was the one who appointed Albisu.” This means that, for the senator, the President of the Republic is responsible for the acts committed by the person he appointed to office.
Asked if CA is “collecting accounts” to his coalition partners over previous internal disputes, Domenech assured that this was not the case. However, he did not take long to bring up the scandal of the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (MVOT) starring whoever was its owner, the lobbyist Irene Moreira, which left the Multicolor Coalition on the verge of bankruptcy and a political crisis.
“This is totally different from that of the Ministry of Housing. In that case there were not 200 million pesos, nor 27 appointments with very high positions. I think that It is absolutely different, but there is also an administrative investigation. But because of that fact I am not going to validate a scandal of this type, if these things are true it is a scandal,” said Domenech.
Source: Ambito
