26/02/2005 00:00
TW
0

by Staff Reporter
MARGARITA Nájera, the former socialist Mayor of Calvia, insinuated yesterday that businessmen could have financed the harassment campaign which she claims has been waged against her by the Partido Popular (PP) and announced “clear and decisive” action to uncover the alleged plot when all the pending court cases are settled. ”I am going to go a long way in this case, as far as my strength and capacity and those of my party will carry me,” she said yesterday, as she celebrated the dismissal of another of the cases against her.

It had been claimed that she had given favourable treatment to a municipal tax collector or profited from a plot of land which he sold to her ex-husband.

Najera claimed that the initiative she is preparing to uncover this alleged plot, behind which she said there were construction interests, will be “political” and as a result of this, members of the PP, some of them with top posts, will “have to apologise for the damage they have done these past few years.” Asked if this political initiative would also mean she will stand in the local elections of 2007, the former Mayor replied “we'll see”.

Najera said she was convinced that there was not only a “strategy” behind the “witch hunt” to which she has been subjected, but also “a lot of money” to pay lawyers. She insinuated that this money could have come from businessmen interested in obtaining certain benefits.

Although these “promoters” have “names and surnames” Nájera declined to reveal what her investigations have produced to date.
She claimed that there were a lot of people who are supporting her in her efforts to “uncover the truth” and who are calling for transparency and “ethics” to enter into the management of the current town council.

She said that she would be patient so that, when all the cases brought against her have been resolved, she will be able to set in motion “clear and decisive action” to “discover” who is “sponsoring” the campaign against her. “This must never happen again,” Nájera said, commenting on the alleged “dirty tricks” which lie behind the PP's actions.

At the Press conference, Nájera was accompanied by the secretary general of Calvia, Francisco Cano, and the spokesman of the socialist group in Parliament, Francina Armengol, who expressed their support and called on Mayor Carlos Delgado to make “an immediate rectification” of the accusations made against his predecessor.

Najera accused Delgado and the PP of having used justice in a one sided manner to carry out a “witch hunt” against her, in which truth was scorned. She expressed regret that although many of the cases have been dismissed, the party headed by Balearic leader Jaume Matas is still thinking of continuing, pressing more charges.

Regarding the case which was dismissed earlier this week, she said that she was pleased the court had agreed with her, in that the improvement to the tax collector's contract was to improve the service, not thanks for a favour, and she added that it was something which should be imitated by other town councils.

The only one of the eight main charges against her which is still pending refers to Local Strategy, with the PP claiming that a Catalan firm of consultants was paid 1.6 million euros for reports of no interest.