The candidate for Frente Amplio por Madrid, Emilio Delgado, has demanded that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, dismiss the Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, after the police charges recorded during the general strike on November 11 for housing.
In an interview on Cadena Ser, Delgado maintained that “it no longer makes much sense to appeal to the minister,” and added that, “the longer the PSOE supports Marlaska, the more responsibility is transferred to the President of the Government.”
For the candidate of Frente Amplio, even the PSOE electorate “feels uncomfortable” because, as he stated, “it is neither the first, nor the second, nor the third time” that the police have harshly charged against demonstrators in progressive protests. In that context, he compared the police action in the housing protest with the escort that, in his opinion, the far-right received when they blocked Gran Vía three years ago.
Delgado also criticized the use of pepper spray against participants in the mobilization and reproached that “you cannot reach out to citizens when they mobilize for their rights” and, at the same time, respond in the streets with “savage police charges” like those that, he said, were seen in the general strike.
Pointing out riot police and defending fundamental rights
The political leader also pointed out that fundamental rights such as assembly and expression “are being violated” and indicated that there is a specific problem with the riot police. “In this country, the Police are very well regarded, I believe there are many people who appreciate the protection and work of the police in their daily lives, but there is a specific problem with police unions and with the riot police,” he stressed.
According to his denunciation, “it is not normal for there to be concentrations of neo-Nazis and for police officers to be seen calmly talking to them,” and he also criticized that, in the housing protest in Madrid, the police gassed “a homeless person who was on Gran Vía.”
“This is inadmissible,” concluded Emilio Delgado, who insisted on demanding “political responsibilities” to “guarantee fundamental rights in Spain,” while also calling for “a thorough review of the police model.”
Assessment of the housing mobilization
That said, Delgado highlighted the historic result of the general strike for housing, especially in avenues that, he said, were “collapsed” in large cities.
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