All is now being revealed. We are finally coming to understand why the Balearics are run by an incompetent and has therefore presumably been run by fellow incompetents ever since 1983. This is not to say that President Bauzá is incompetent, just that he does not have the competence (as in responsibility) to take decisions. And who says so? Why, it's the president himself.
The hoo-ha over Bauzá's business affairs and his non-declaration of them struck me, when it first blew up, as being a case of straw-clutching by an opposition desperate to pin anything it could on the president. These business affairs had seemed relatively inconsequential and they may well have remained so had he fessed up straightaway and issued a grovelling apology rather than dilly-dallying for many a month before getting around to declare them. And now we learn that not only did he not declare them to parliament he didn't declare them to his own government either, which he was also obliged to do.
There is nothing to prevent Bauzá or any other member of the Balearic parliament simultaneously holding public office and receiving remuneration from a private business (or businesses) of which he or she is an owner or in which he or she has some interest, e.g. shareholding. So long, that is, as he or she declares these interests, and the reason for declaring them is to ensure that there is no possible incompatibility between the public office and these business interests. It is this alleged incompatibility that the opposition has used to finger Bauzá. Plus the fact that, until recently, he hadn't declared these interests.
What had seemed inconsequential most certainly isn't any longer. It is beyond credibility to believe, as has been claimed, that he made an error or omission in not declaring these business interests. One is left with only one conclusion: that he deliberately tried to conceal them and that he did, as opposition politicians and numerous journalists have been and are saying, lie.
I don't believe for one moment that Bauzá has made any personal gain as a result of these business interests, even through his pharmacy (a business interest that everyone was well aware of, it should be noted, before he became president). If there were any question that he had, then it would surely be a simple enough process of audit to establish. The issue is not any benefit he may have gained; it is the failure to disclose. And this failure is being compounded by the explanations he is making and his governmental colleagues have been making; they simply don't ring true, e.g. Rafael Bosch's assertion that the failure to disclose was just an error.
Now we have the revelation about competence to take decisions. The president, in a written defence of complaints that were made last summer by opposition parties, maintains that the role of president is little more (if that) than an institutional figurehead without the power to take decisions. It is a role without executive powers. The only body which has decision-making powers is the governing council, of which he is of course both a member and the head.
Frankly, it is an extraordinary piece of spin. Tony Blair would have approved heartily ("it wasn't my decision to attack Saddam", that sort of thing). It is extraordinary also because of who he compares the presidential role to - the King of Spain, who doesn't strictly speaking have any decision-making powers, and the president of Italy. Why not to the prime minister of Spain? There is probably a good reason for the Italian reference, and that is because Bauzá's critics have compared him with Berlusconi. And increasingly, in terms of goalpost-moving, the comparison is becoming more valid.
What Bauzá is trying to explain is that, regardless of his business affairs, he is not in a position to take decisions which would impact on these businesses to his benefit. He is trying to explain this but in the process he is digging a deeper hole. He has not addressed the fundamental issue of why he didn't disclose his business affairs.
Bauzá insists that it will be down to the courts to decide on any possible incompatibility, but this is now less of an issue. The integrity of the man who said he would preside over a clean government is what is at stake and it has been shaken. Beyond repair? Possibly so. The honourable thing would be to resign, but who would take over? Whoever it might be, though, wouldn't matter, because he or she wouldn't be taking any decisions.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Showing posts with label Business affairs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business affairs. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Being Seen To Be Honest: Bauzá's business affairs
If you happened to be the president of the Balearics and were hopeful that bad news might be buried by events elsewhere, then an appearance in a Palma court by the King's son-in-law would be high on your wish list of competing attractions. Unfortunately for José Ramón Bauzá, though attention has indeed been focused on Iñaki Urdangarin, he is not escaping without goodly amounts of attention being paid to him. And specifically to his business affairs.
Ahead of the elections in 2011, Bauzá promised to clean up the Partido Popular. One way of doing so was to reject candidates at the elections who had been tainted by allegations of wrongdoing. It was good electoral PR, as Balearics politics had become well and truly mired in corruption cases, some of which related to former PP politicians, such as the ex-president Jaume Matas.
Anti-corruption prosecutors' interest in Matas had its origins in an investigation that was conducted during Matas's period in office between 2003 and 2007. This was the investigation into the former mayor of Andratx, Eugenio Hidalgo. He was arrested in late 2006 on charges of money-laundering and on suspicion of taking kickbacks. He was subsequently found guilty. Because the tentacles of the Hidalgo affair reached into the government, the prosecutors started digging further, and what they discovered was to lead to charges against Matas.
There was a good deal of murkiness surrounding the early weeks of the Hidalgo investigation. One aspect of this was the allegation that documents had gone missing as the result of a tip-off given to Hidalgo. One of those who was suspected of having tipped him off was the then interior minister in the Matas government, José María Rodríguez. No charges were ever brought against Rodríguez, but he had been tainted. At the end of 2011, he became the delegate for the Balearics. Seven months later, he was forced to resign because of corruption allegations related to a different case during the Matas administration.
At the time of Rodríguez's appointment as delegate, it was suggested that the appointment was the result of a pact by which Rodríguez would not make life difficult for Bauzá. Whatever the truth of this suggestion, with Rodríguez's resignation, Bauzá's wish for clean government was itself starting to look tainted.
That wish may turn out to be a case of Bauzá having made a rod for his own back. There was much applause for his stand on not permitting candidates who had "form" even if this form had not resulted in any court sentencing, as was the case with Jaume Font, another former minister in the Matas government. Allegations against him were archived, but Bauzá's position (and the two were also political opponents) led Font to leave the party and form his own.
By making the wish for clean government such a prominent element of his administration, Bauzá opened this administration up to scrutiny, which has come from the media and from opposition parties. It hasn't helped his cause that the mayor of Inca, Rafael Torres, and the now former president (speaker) of the Balearic parliament, Pere Rotger, have, along with Rodríguez, come under investigation by Judge Castro, the same judge investigating Urdangarin. But nor has his cause been helped by statements he has made, such as one made just before Christmas last year. Referring to the ethical code that the PP wants to be established, Bauzá confirmed his commitment to this code, saying that "I don't only have to be honest, I have to be seen to be honest". By the time he made this statement, however, several months had elapsed since his honesty had been brought into question.
In June last year, representatives of what is now known as Més (formerly the PSM socialists, greens and Entesa grouping) sent a written complaint to the regional government's council in which they alleged that Bauzá had lied about his business affairs when he had registered assets on taking office as president in June 2011. Specifically, it was claimed that he had overlooked his pharmacy business in Marratxí, a wine bar called Divino and a medical and orthopedic equipment firm, Bauser International 2001 S.L. The complaint wasn't so much an implication of any wrongdoing or personal gain but one of incompatibility between these business interests and Bauzá's position as president and one of dishonesty. There was also a precedent. A one-time health minister, the PSOE politician Aina Salom, had been forced to step down when her business interest in a pharmacy came to light.
The government's own investigation of Bauzá, perhaps unsurprisingly, found no evidence of incompatibility. This didn't satisfy Biel Barceló and Fina Santiago of Més. Acting on their complaints, the public prosecutor undertook to investigate Bauzá's business affairs and then, in December, the Balearics High Court was presented with a "denuncia", one to which PSOE in the Balearics had added its name. The leftist opposition was by now united in pursuing Bauzá.
The prosecutor has since archived the complaints, saying that these did not amount to a legal infraction, but the denuncia with the court is still being considered. Meantime, however, the president has posted what are referred to as "complementary assets" that he holds on the government's website. This occurred last week, and their declaration has led, once more, to charges that the president lied in June 2011. These complementary assets are the very ones he did not disclose on taking office.
The government's spokesperson, Rafael Bosch, has said that the president didn't lie but that he has now, by posting these assets, corrected an "error or omission". The secretary-general of PSOE, Francina Armengol, is just one who is incredulous, wondering how he could forget 80% of his assets. Armengol insists that Bauzá's legitmacy to remain as president has, at the very least, been brought into question. How can the people of the Balearics be assured that he is being honest on matters which affect the people, if he has been less than honest about his business affairs?
Despite Bosch's assertion that Bauzá either made an error or an omission, there is concern among the PP as to what might happen at the High Court. It has been suggested that the president of the Council of Mallorca, Maria Salom, might step in and take over, but the PP has no obvious alternative to Bauzá.
The president may be undone by his own determination for there to be clean government. But that determination did not prevent him from making an error or an omission. In Spanish politics, especially against the background of the recent Bárcenas revelations to rock Mariano Rajoy, honesty has suddenly assumed a position centre stage. And politicians have to be seen to be honest. José Ramón Bauzá has said so.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Ahead of the elections in 2011, Bauzá promised to clean up the Partido Popular. One way of doing so was to reject candidates at the elections who had been tainted by allegations of wrongdoing. It was good electoral PR, as Balearics politics had become well and truly mired in corruption cases, some of which related to former PP politicians, such as the ex-president Jaume Matas.
Anti-corruption prosecutors' interest in Matas had its origins in an investigation that was conducted during Matas's period in office between 2003 and 2007. This was the investigation into the former mayor of Andratx, Eugenio Hidalgo. He was arrested in late 2006 on charges of money-laundering and on suspicion of taking kickbacks. He was subsequently found guilty. Because the tentacles of the Hidalgo affair reached into the government, the prosecutors started digging further, and what they discovered was to lead to charges against Matas.
There was a good deal of murkiness surrounding the early weeks of the Hidalgo investigation. One aspect of this was the allegation that documents had gone missing as the result of a tip-off given to Hidalgo. One of those who was suspected of having tipped him off was the then interior minister in the Matas government, José María Rodríguez. No charges were ever brought against Rodríguez, but he had been tainted. At the end of 2011, he became the delegate for the Balearics. Seven months later, he was forced to resign because of corruption allegations related to a different case during the Matas administration.
At the time of Rodríguez's appointment as delegate, it was suggested that the appointment was the result of a pact by which Rodríguez would not make life difficult for Bauzá. Whatever the truth of this suggestion, with Rodríguez's resignation, Bauzá's wish for clean government was itself starting to look tainted.
That wish may turn out to be a case of Bauzá having made a rod for his own back. There was much applause for his stand on not permitting candidates who had "form" even if this form had not resulted in any court sentencing, as was the case with Jaume Font, another former minister in the Matas government. Allegations against him were archived, but Bauzá's position (and the two were also political opponents) led Font to leave the party and form his own.
By making the wish for clean government such a prominent element of his administration, Bauzá opened this administration up to scrutiny, which has come from the media and from opposition parties. It hasn't helped his cause that the mayor of Inca, Rafael Torres, and the now former president (speaker) of the Balearic parliament, Pere Rotger, have, along with Rodríguez, come under investigation by Judge Castro, the same judge investigating Urdangarin. But nor has his cause been helped by statements he has made, such as one made just before Christmas last year. Referring to the ethical code that the PP wants to be established, Bauzá confirmed his commitment to this code, saying that "I don't only have to be honest, I have to be seen to be honest". By the time he made this statement, however, several months had elapsed since his honesty had been brought into question.
In June last year, representatives of what is now known as Més (formerly the PSM socialists, greens and Entesa grouping) sent a written complaint to the regional government's council in which they alleged that Bauzá had lied about his business affairs when he had registered assets on taking office as president in June 2011. Specifically, it was claimed that he had overlooked his pharmacy business in Marratxí, a wine bar called Divino and a medical and orthopedic equipment firm, Bauser International 2001 S.L. The complaint wasn't so much an implication of any wrongdoing or personal gain but one of incompatibility between these business interests and Bauzá's position as president and one of dishonesty. There was also a precedent. A one-time health minister, the PSOE politician Aina Salom, had been forced to step down when her business interest in a pharmacy came to light.
The government's own investigation of Bauzá, perhaps unsurprisingly, found no evidence of incompatibility. This didn't satisfy Biel Barceló and Fina Santiago of Més. Acting on their complaints, the public prosecutor undertook to investigate Bauzá's business affairs and then, in December, the Balearics High Court was presented with a "denuncia", one to which PSOE in the Balearics had added its name. The leftist opposition was by now united in pursuing Bauzá.
The prosecutor has since archived the complaints, saying that these did not amount to a legal infraction, but the denuncia with the court is still being considered. Meantime, however, the president has posted what are referred to as "complementary assets" that he holds on the government's website. This occurred last week, and their declaration has led, once more, to charges that the president lied in June 2011. These complementary assets are the very ones he did not disclose on taking office.
The government's spokesperson, Rafael Bosch, has said that the president didn't lie but that he has now, by posting these assets, corrected an "error or omission". The secretary-general of PSOE, Francina Armengol, is just one who is incredulous, wondering how he could forget 80% of his assets. Armengol insists that Bauzá's legitmacy to remain as president has, at the very least, been brought into question. How can the people of the Balearics be assured that he is being honest on matters which affect the people, if he has been less than honest about his business affairs?
Despite Bosch's assertion that Bauzá either made an error or an omission, there is concern among the PP as to what might happen at the High Court. It has been suggested that the president of the Council of Mallorca, Maria Salom, might step in and take over, but the PP has no obvious alternative to Bauzá.
The president may be undone by his own determination for there to be clean government. But that determination did not prevent him from making an error or an omission. In Spanish politics, especially against the background of the recent Bárcenas revelations to rock Mariano Rajoy, honesty has suddenly assumed a position centre stage. And politicians have to be seen to be honest. José Ramón Bauzá has said so.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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