Madrid regional president resigns over alleged facecream theft and faking degree

[Borealis]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/madrid-president-cristina-cifuentes-resigns-over-alleged-face-cream-theft?CMP=share_btn_tw

The president of Madrid’s regional government has resigned after video footage emerged of her apparently being caught stealing two tubs of face cream seven years ago.

Cristina Cifuentes, one of the most high-profile figures in the conservative People’s party (PP) led by the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, had been under pressure to quit over allegations that she faked her master’s degree.

She said on Wednesday she was stepping down to spare her colleagues and her family any further embarrassment and discomfort. Cifuentes had managed to cling on for weeks and had attempted to shift responsibility for the degree on to the university that awarded it to her, but the release of the video to the news site OKdiario appears to have sealed her fate.

Speaking at a hastily convened press conference, Cifuentes said the footage showed nothing more than an “involuntary mistake” she had made in 2011. She said she had become the subject of a very public and very personal “lynching” over recent days and weeks.

“This has been a campaign of harassment and demolition and one which has, for a while now, stopped being political and become personal. Some clear red lines have been crossed,” she said.

Cifuentes, who had governed that Madrid region since 2015, said she was stepping aside so as not to jeopardise her administration’s achievements or allow her political opponents to take control. Speaking after the resignation, Rajoy said: “Cristina Cifuentes has done what she had to do. I think the situation made her resignation obligatory.”

Opposition parties in the regional assembly had called a vote of no confidence in early May. Her departure means the PP can now replace her with another candidate.

“The alternative would be a leftist government that would undoubtedly not just raise taxes but also destroy many of the things we’ve done and mean an administration that would be bad for the people of Madrid,” Cifuentes said.

[Maestra Fénix]

My opinion ( and the ones from a lot of people ) about this:

The fact she resigned after this and not because during this month it was discovered that she, and a lot of politicians from the PP got fake diplomas and masters directly from a private university that is controlled by affiliates to the PP shows that somehow, such level of corruption is tolerable but petty theft isn't ( or just a mere excuse to get rid of her and avoid further investigation into this ).

The video is very old and according to our law of data protection, the supermarket chain should have deleted it ages ago ( in fact, just 30 days after the incident ). The fact it not only wasn't but also it ended into the hands of a journalist after all these years shows a colossal fuck up into this procedure ( and if she decides to sue she's right to do so, as this means our data is in danger basically. She could also get millions in damages due such big mistake ).

The video was published by OKDiario, a far-right newspaper affiliated with the PP ( and the journalist behind it has direct contact with all the current high-ups of the PP ). Considering previous acts from other politicians from the PP who resigned, it is more than probably that the PP have a big list of delicated issues from all the members so they can blackmail anyone in the case someone decides to deviate from the general line of thinking or just becoming useless ( and then there's the whole conspiracy about ex-members turning up dead when being declared in corruption cases ). Literally a horse head to place into the bed of someone.

>Opposition parties in the regional assembly had called a vote of no
confidence in early May. Her departure means the PP can now replace her
with another candidate.

Ciudadanos ( a new right wing political party "disguised" as liberal center, which is pretty much a carbon copy of PP ) has already say they don't mind another member from the PP to replace her so they will not support this vote. PSOE ( old socialdemocrat party which nowadays they are at the right side ) will likely do the same ( totally not expected considering how pretty much have been the same thing as the PP and "help" each other everytime a big corruption scheme sees the light ).

“The alternative would be a leftist government that would undoubtedly
not just raise taxes but also destroy many of the things we’ve done and
mean an administration that would be bad for the people of Madrid,”
Cifuentes said.

Very cheap from her, when the mayor from Podemos who rules Madrid has greatly reduced the debt in a couple of years, stopped pharaonic public works which were useless and only they were being done due corruption and speculation, and improved big time the image of the city, plus fighting for the first time agaisnt the big smog cloud that is above the city. Just your stereotypical far-right propaganda ( which sadly a lot of people fall for it ).