The imminent local elections, which take place on May 22nd, have the opportunity to change the face of Town Halls throughout Spain.  One municipality which could be really shaken up is Orihuela, and residents of Orihuela Costa are being invited to show their dissatisfaction with the ruling PP party, by casting their votes for whichever party best represents what they would like done differently in the area.

The Courier | Noticia

The imminent local elections, which take place on May 22nd, have the opportunity to change the face of Town Halls throughout Spain.  One municipality which could be really shaken up is Orihuela, and residents of Orihuela Costa are being invited to show their dissatisfaction with the ruling PP party, by casting their votes for whichever party best represents what they would like done differently in the area. 

The Green Party already have three councillors in Orihuela Town Hall, and if their rising popularity continues, this number could double in the next elections.  Martina Scheurer is the first foreign resident who is almost guaranteed a seat, as she is number three on the list of Green Party candidates, and local polls suggest the Green Party may achieve up to six seats.

The Green Party began in 2003 in Orihuela, gaining by surprise, one seat.  Since then, their common sense approach and demand for transparency and total honesty, has meant that the party has grown and grown in supporters.  The 3 seats they gained in 2007 shook the rug from under the feet of the PP, but were not enough to remove the majority the PP have held for years.

However, things may be different this year, and the Green Party is inviting everyone to come and talk to them in their office in Pueblo Principe, above the Rendezvous Bar, to air your views, vent your problems and listen to what the Green Party would do to change the way things are done on the coast.

Martina speaks five languages; English, Spanish, German, French and Italian, so communication will not be a problem for her.  She is passionate about making a difference to the area, which she knows well.  She started coming here in 1993, and has lived here permanently for the last twelve years.  She has seen how Orihuela Costa has been spoilt through unplanned constructions, unfinished services, abandoned buildings, unkempt green areas and local schools made out of containers.  As she says, “I love Orihuela Costa but loved it more before.  The way it has developed is very bad.  It has been done with no global vision.  These things simply should not happen, and it’s the local town hall’s duty to stop a builder if he is constructing a building in the wrong place.  It’s no good just fining him a fraction of the value of the finished building.”

When asked what the Green Party would do to resolve all these problems which already exist she has no doubt in answering.  “The first thing would be to eradicate all the corruption which goes on in the town hall. In other countries if a politician is under investigation for suspicious wheeling’s and dealings he would be struck off the list of candidates. However here it makes little difference.  Amongst the Orihuela PP party there are four candidates under investigation for corruption, yet they all still expect to be re-elected!”

So if people do decide to say “Enough is enough!” and vote for another party, what have the Green Party got to offer which is different to the other parties?  Martina replies that if the Green party were to gain more power it wouldn’t be easy to sort out the huge mess that the whole area is in, but that they are decided on the steps they would take.

To start with, over the first few months, they would evaluate the problems, and then they would be open for applications for consultants and advisors.  They would consider all the applications and then give the job to the most qualified candidate, not the person with the most friends already in government.  She adds, “The PP has 22 consultants employed by them and paid a wage, many of whom have no expertise whatsoever in their area.”  As Martina points out, if you are ill you go to the doctor, and not to your neighbour.  No wonder Orihuela Costa is in such a mess!”  The Green Party would change the whole system of working.

In the last elections the seats won were broken down like this:

Party                     total votes                          %age                     Nr. seats                                             

P.P.                        14113                                    44,74                                     14

PSOE                     7112                                       22,54                                     7

Los Verdes          2847                                       9,02                                        3

C.L.R.                     1881                                       5,96                                        1                                            

C.L.                         1423                                       4,51                                        0

A.P.O.                   1157                                       3,67                                        0

P.S.D.                    1149                                       3,64                                        0

CLARO                  916                                         2,90                                        0

I.U.                         417                                         1,32                                        0

B.I.A.                     112                                         0,36                                        0

blank                     419                                         1,33                                        0

annulled              208       

So, if you add up the seats of the opposition parties they were still fewer (11) than those won by the PP (14).  Hopefully this year things will be different and the PP stronghold can be broken.  If the other parties can get 13 seats between them the PP won’t have the overall majority.

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