THE Partido Popular(PP) has named Juan Francisco Perez Llorca as the party’s candidate to replace Carlos Mazon as Valencian President.
Perez Llorca is seen as a safe pair of hands and was in effect Mazon’s deputy who had a good relationship with far-right Vox party deputies.
Mazon resigned last week after the year-long outcry over his handling of the October 29 flood disaster.
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Perez Llorca’s name quickly emerged as the top contender.
The PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijoo, made the announcement on Tuesday, after phoning Perez Llorca on Tuesday morning with the news.
PP general-secretary Miguel Tellado said: “Feijoo has consulted with his colleagues in Valencia and we need a stable government to move forward.”
Opposition socialists and the far-left regional Compromis party have called for fresh elections.
The latest opinion polls though suggest that the right-of-centre parties would win.
Regional elections are not due until May 2027 but opponents fear a stitch-up deal between the PP and the far-right Vox party, so that Perez Llorca gets enough votes to be invested.
A formal coalition was scuppered after a year, but Vox supports the PP in crucial votes in the Valencian parliament.
Miguel Tellado commented: “It would not make any sense to call elections and that the region, in the midst of reconstruction, would have to paralyse its activity for half a year.”
The first hurdle within the Valencian parliament- Les Corts- is 50 votes, an overall majority out of the 99 deputy chamber.
If that fails, then a simple majority would suffice.
If Perez Llorca succeeds, Carlos Mazon will remain as a deputy.
If the majority is not achieved, then Les Corts would be dissolved for elections to take place.
That process could take months and Mazon would continue as interim Valencian president.
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