Mónica Oltra resigns as vice president and spokesperson for the Valencian Government

The vice president of the Valencian Generalitat, Mónica Oltra, has presented her resignation this Tuesday, five days after being charged with the alleged cover-up of the case of abuse of a minor under guardianship for which her ex-husband was convicted.

Pressure from her own party, Compromís, and from her government partners, both PSPV and Podem, has led Oltra to make the decision to leave her institutional positions, despite the fact that on Friday she had assured that she I wouldn't give up.

"I'm leaving with my head held high and my teeth clenched," said Oltra, who arrived at the Compromís headquarters shortly before the executive began in which her situation was going to be dealt with after her indictment.

Despite the fact that the pressure has come from several sides in recent days, Mónica Oltra has pointed out, fundamentally, two: that exerted by the PSPV and that of the media.

Thus, she has said that she is leaving so as not to be responsible for the departure of Compromís from the Generalitat, after the veiled warning from the president, the socialist Ximo Puig, to dismiss her if she herself did not depart from her.

"It won't be for me.

I am not going to compromise the change that began in 2015”, Oltra stated in reference to the two progressive coalition governments.

The fact that he has decided to announce his resignation without informing Puig in advance reveals the tension and discomfort between the two: "I am not going to be his alibi to expel Compromís from the Government," he insisted, after attributing his departure to "infamy judicial and media” that “will go down in history”.

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Mónica Oltra, the indomitable leader

In an impromptu press conference, and visibly affected, Oltra has maintained his thesis of the political hunt: "The bad guys win," he said.

“Let no one think that it is possible to engage in politics against the powerful.

Those who go against the powerful will be charged with false accusations.

One by one ”, she added, referring to the origin of the complaints that have taken her to court, presented by sectors of the extreme right.

Oltra not only leaves her positions in the Valencian Generalitat, but also her seat in the Cortes, which means the loss of her condition as avalued;

therefore, the case will return to the court of instruction in which she began to investigate.

“I don't need to be out of breath.

If I am not worthy of being in the Government, I am less worthy of being in the Chamber of Popular Representation”, she considered.

When asked if she expected Puig's support, she answered: “That question is complicated.

She would have expected Puig's support, but she knew there was no chance.

I haven't expected anything for a long time."

In any case, Compromís sources do not rule out that, if time and judicial decisions allow it, Mónica Oltra will once again lead the coalition list in the next regional elections in 2023. This has been explained by the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribó ,

who has insisted that Oltra is an "essential" piece in Compromís although "sometimes it is convenient to take a step to the side to advance with more force".

“Let no one have any illusions, Mónica Oltra is an essential piece of Compromís and she will be again the day she returns and it is proven that she is totally innocent”.

Mónica Oltra, accompanied by colleagues from her party during the press conference this Tuesday. Ana Escobar (EFE)

Sources from the presidency of the Generalitat have indicated that Oltra's announcement "is in line with that collective reflection that President Puig had requested", for which they respect the decision, while highlighting the work carried out.

"The Consell del Botànic continues to work for the future and the progress of Valencians", the same sources point out.

Oltra's urgent appearance has caught the members of the Compromís executive at the party's headquarters, where the meeting was to be held.

The vice president has appeared along with more than a dozen members of the coalition, very affected, and escorted by the leaders of the parties that form it: Águeda Micó (Més Compromís), Juan Ponce (Los Verdes) and Alberto Ibáñez (Iniciativa) .

Minutes after the hearing ended, several members of the coalition were still hugging each other and crying.

Despite the public support that Compromís has expressed for its leader, the pressure from some sectors of the formation itself and the possibility that the president, Ximo Puig, might dismiss her have been able to do more than Oltra's own initial intention of staying in office .

"plural clues"

The Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community charged the regional vice president five days ago for allegedly covering up the case of abuse of a minor under guardianship for which her ex-husband was convicted in December 2019. The accusation occurred after the The court investigating the case concluded that there were indications of Oltra's participation in the preparation of a file to hinder the investigation or even to protect his own political career.

The Prosecutor's Office accuses Oltra of the alleged crimes of prevarication, abandonment of minors and omission of the duty to prosecute crimes and, although the court indicated that "there is no direct evidence", the three magistrates considered that Oltra should appear as a defendant in the presence of some “plural indications, which in principle suggest that they were orchestrated” by the vice president.

The person who is emerging as Oltra's replacement is the deputy Aitana Mas (Crevillent, 1990), who generates consensus in the main currents of Compromís as the best possible solution to this situation.

One of the earliest reactions to the announcement has been that of the More Country deputy Íñigo Errejón, who has described Oltra's decision as "courageous".

"These are difficult days, but time will clarify everything," he added on his Twitter profile.

“She has shown courage with a responsible decision at a difficult time,” Yolanda Díaz also greeted, who last Friday did not want to comment on her permanence in office.

“He puts his town and the transforming action of the Botànic ahead of everything.

Thank you for your commitment and your career in favor of people's rights”, the second vice-president of the Government added on social networks.

In addition, sources close to the head of Labor disassociated hours before the process to form her platform, open to civil society, from the figure of Oltra.

Nevertheless,

The leader of Compromís was called to be one of Díaz's territorial allies, and her role was key in staging a possible pact with other formations beyond the United We Can space at the meeting held in Valencia last November.

Galician politics, in the press conference after the Council of Ministers, had referred to Oltra's explanations before the court on July 6,

.