Majorcan Unionists slam government as “weak and ineffectual”

PALMA
AS the State of the Balearics debate entered its second day yesterday, Majorcan Unionist (UM) Parliamentary spokesman Josep Melia described the regional Socialist government as “weak and lacking in leadership quality”.

Melia stormed on that apart from now governing in a minority, the Socialists under President Francesc Antich had “little vision for the future” and that their leader was still speaking of his “good intentions” despite being almost at the end of his term of office.

The UM spokesman went further by suggesting that the regional government was suffering a “crisis of values” in which people's individual drive to succeed and motivation to promote business had been seriously undermined. “The Socialists talk a great deal about the fairer distribution of wealth but do little to generate it,” accused Melia.

He claimed that a three-year partnership where Partido Partido (PP) Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was in power in Madrid at the same time as regional PP President, Jaume Matas, followed by another between Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Francesc Antich had left the Balearics at the tail-end of what Melia called “chronic injustice.” “We're last on the list for Central Government investment,” said Melia “and now Madrid has reduced the amount of money it is going to provide to the Balearics for air fare discounts,” he added. There are still no special arrangements to compensate the Balearics for its economic disadvantage of being an island community, he said.

Melia was also critical of Francesc Antich because in his opening speech on the first day of the debate, the President had reportedly completely omitted mention of the region's primary industries such as agriculture, livestock and fisheries.

He said that after Antich had eliminated the Agiculture and Fisheries ministry from his government as part of austerity measures, farmers and fishermen needed to have some channel of response from the Balearic government.

Melia continued by saying that although he recognised some measures and policies had been introduced by Antich to help the tourist industry, it simply wasn't enough. Melia said that the matter of the unfinished Congress Palace at the eastern end of the Paseo Maritimo in Palma was still unresolved and that the Playa de Palma reform project was in need of redrafting.