Guillermo Ruiz invested as Mayor of Jimena

(Photo: EuropaSur/Erasmo Fenoy)

JIMENA (Agencies) After a series of protracted machinations regarding the investiture of Jimena's Mayor -all aimed at doing as little personal damage to the otherwise Mayor-elect, Francisco Pineda, who is in hospital- Guillermo Ruiz was finally invested in the post yesterday evening. There were no surprises at the ceremony, and the baton was passed on to the first PP Mayor in democracy, who will have to govern in a minority. The ousted PSOE councillors, many of whom held positions of power for several years, were there to hand it over. Ruiz was full of praise for the man he was forced by circumstance to replace, Pineda, whom, he said, was the reason he, Ruiz, was now heading the Council. He also thanked the two 'hinge' parties, IU and PA, for their position: they voted for themselves, did not support the incumbent psoe at the Councillors investiture and thus allowed the PP to take the Mayorship as the most-voted party at the May 22 elections.>>>

Among other items, Ruiz said that one of the first things he would do would be to order an audit of the municipal accounts, to see what is the real situation of the municipal treasury.

In her speech, the spokesperson for the PP on the Council, María José Pro, said that "alternation of power is the essence of democracy", allowing, too, that it would not be easy to govern in minority and they would need "the support and understanding of the rest of the parties."

Fernando Palma, front (TioJimeno)

Among those present at the investiture was the former Mayor of San Roque, Fernando Palma, who was ousted in political manouevres after the recent election, and who is considered one of the PP's local hardliners. He might be expected to have an influence on Jimena's new Mayor, who is young and relatively inexperienced. Prtesent, too, were several PP members and councillors from other towns and villages of the Campo de Gibraltar.