Confused about C.L.A.R.O. !

My expectation that the letter written by Desmond Baxter would appear in the Round Town News was not disappointed.

Today in the CoastRider we see the continuation of the theme of the questioning of the attitudes of the C.L.A.R.O. party of Orihuela Costa with the publication of the following letter by J Longman.

Dear Editor,

I have been following the budget dispute between the CLARO party, through it's President Mr. Houliston, and the opposition parties within the Orihuela Town Council, in your paper with some confusion.

My first point of confusion is as to why CLARO are attacking the other opposition parties. All be it that CLARO did not receive enough votes at the election to get any Councillors elected, if the party truly wants to fight against the current PP government shouldn't it be working with the opposition parties that do have a representation on the Council and not attacking them as Mr. Houliston is? Isn't it part of the role of the opposition as a whole to take the government to task and accountable to ensure that it does the best for the borough. CLARO seem to have missed this point and want to attack and blame the other opposition parties for not being able to stop the PP, who have an outright majority of 3, I believe.

My second point of confusion is that CLARO have not given any indication as far as I can read, in your paper, or on their website, that it submitted any proposals to the Council in the preparation of the budget. Although Mr. Houliston's letter was predominantly aimed at the Socialist Party, the Green Party have taken umbrage at his comments and replied that they had put forward some ideas for the budget, which included some for Orihuela Costa area and had got some of them accepted. The Socialist Party seem to be keeping very quiet on this matter, so perhaps they didn't put anything in for the coast.

In his letter the President of CLARO said "C.L.A.R.O. has described the 2009 budget as an INSULT and DISGRACE from Orihuela Costa's point of view." .

Well if as it seems that CLARO did not submit any amendments to the budget (I am assuming they didn't otherwise they would have shouted about the fact on the 10th February when you printed a reply by CLARO to the Green Party), then as the party that sells itself as the only one that represents the people of Orihuela Costa then it would seem that it is " an INSULT and DISGRACE" on the part of CLARO to it's members and the electorate of Orihuela Costa in that it did not truly try to represent the needs of the coast. It would seem that they are working on the basis of don't do as I do but do as I say ( I would if I got elected)! I'm confused.

In the article of the 10th February the following quote appears, 'change', CLARO says has been postponed to 2011, but it insists that change will indeed come."

What will change? It is obvious, because of the current 2 major party structure in Spain and the method of proportional representation used, that in the local elections in 2011 in the Orihuela Town Council the largest party will either be the PP or PSOE, but perhaps hopefully without a direct one party majority. If this is the case the smaller elected parties will have an important role to play in forming a coalition or cooperative government with PSOE, hopefully without the PP. Let's assume for a moment that CLARO manage to get a presence on the Council; will the party change it's attitude to the current larger opposition parties (Socialists and Greens) which it so readily currently attacks and criticizes, to form a government to keep out the PP? Or, will CLARO suddenly have a change of attitude and work with the PP, in order to keep them in power, in the hope of getting it's (CLARO) share of power and some money for Orihuela Costa in return? The way that CLARO may work in the future seems to lead to confusion!

If some of the registered voters are to choose CLARO in 2011 (assuming it is still in existence) instead of either the Socialists or the Greens, and hopefully not the PP, then the voters will need to know what will actually change in CLARO's attitude between now and then.

Yours sincerely,
J Longman,
Orihuela Costa