Óscar Puente announced his resignation as transport minister late on Tuesday, after addressing lawmakers in the Congress of Deputies. He also said he would not lead the PSOE’s list for Valladolid in the upcoming elections, ending his political career, according to the account of his announcement.
Puente had given a press conference after the Council of Ministers and made an initial statement during his appearance before the Congress’s Permanent Deputation without indicating that he planned to resign. He disclosed his decision at the end of his reply to parliamentary groups, around four hours later, and had sent a text message to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez shortly beforehand.
He said he had made the decision “in the first minutes of the tragedy” and described it as a matter of political responsibility. The government had previously said that Puente offered his resignation but that Sánchez had not accepted it. In announcing his departure, Puente called it “a good decision for the country” and said, “It is not true that we are all the same.”
The article describes the resignation as a move that could keep the train disaster from dominating the PSOE’s election campaign. It notes that the presence of Puente, who had faced criticism over the accident, could have drawn sustained attention from political parties and the media once the campaign began on 13 November.
In Parliament, several parties called for Puente to resign. The PP’s Ester Muñoz said his resignation had come too late, while Sumar’s Verónica Martínez asked him to step down “with respect.” The PNV’s Mikel Legarda also called for his departure, citing the national trauma and damage to the country’s image. EH Bildu’s Mertxe Aizpurua questioned the emphasis on expanding high-speed rail, while Esquerra and EH Bildu did not demand his resignation.
Puente also defended his handling of information about the accident, responding to criticism that he had singled out a railway worker. He said he explained the sequence of events once he had the available information and asked whether the alternative would have been to conceal, disguise or invent it. Earlier in the day, he had outlined new safety measures for the rail network.
Sources: elDiario.es.