Rodríguez to stand down as PP president in Palma

The president of the Partido Popular in Palma, José María Rodríguez, has decided that he will not stand for re-election, making it likely that Margalida Durán will become the spokesperson for the PP in the city.
Rodríguez will, though, continue in his position until the next congress is held, stressing that, as he was elected to the post by a vote of party members, he was obliged to fulfil the mandate.
In responding to Rodríguez’s announcement, Durán said yesterday that it was probable that her name would be submitted for the presidency at the next congress of the Palma PP, which is due to take place after congresses at regional and island levels.
She would combine a role as party spokesperson at the council with the presidency of the local board of the party, something she considers to be a good idea; until now, these roles have been performed by two party members.
Although the PP lost around 30,000 votes at the election for Palma’s Council, Rodríguez noted that this decline was similar to that in other cities, such as Valencia, Seville and Madrid.
He attributed the loss of support to cuts that had been made because of economic crisis and to cases of corruption.  
While Rodríguez backed Durán to be the one to head what will now be the PP in opposition at the council, he said that he hoped there would be at least two candidates for the post in order to enable good debate.