Spain’s Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, has resigned following a lethal prepare collision that claimed a minimum of 69 lives and injured dozens of others, amid mounting strain over railway security and rising criticism of the federal government’s dealing with of the catastrophe.
Puente introduced his choice on Tuesday night on the finish of a prolonged session of Congress, the place he confronted intense questioning from lawmakers over the October 28 crash close to Urda, south of Madrid.
crashed within the village of Urda, Toledo, Spain, October 28. Ismael
Herrero/EPA/Shutterstock
The collision occurred when a transferring prepare crashed into the rear of a stationary prepare, triggering one of many deadliest rail disasters in trendy European historical past and Spain’s worst prepare accident since 2013.
Explaining his choice to step down, Puente mentioned: “A transport minister in a country like Spain cannot remain in office after two accidents of this seriousness in less than a year.”
He was referring to a different deadly rail crash in January that killed 46 folks on the identical line.
The minister additionally introduced his withdrawal from the record of candidates for the forthcoming early legislative elections, saying: “I am not only stepping down from my position as minister of transport, but… I am also withdrawing my name from the lists for the early legislative elections.”
Puente described his choice as one motivated by “political dignity”.
His resignation got here after days of mounting strain from opposition events, together with the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox, each of which had demanded that he take duty for the newest tragedy.
crashed within the village of Urda, Toledo, Spain, October 28
Some allies of the governing coalition had additionally known as for his departure, arguing that the minister couldn’t stay in workplace whereas public confidence within the nation’s high-speed railway system continued to deteriorate.
The controversy has positioned Spain’s railway security report underneath intense scrutiny, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez acknowledging that confidence within the system was “broken”.
Opposition politicians additionally criticised Puente for showing to attribute the crash to human error, accusing him of making an attempt to shift duty away from the federal government and its administration of the railway community.
His choice to resign got here as a shock to some observers, notably after he had indicated solely days earlier that he supposed to stay in workplace.
During his look earlier than Congress, Puente outlined new measures supposed to enhance railway security earlier than going through questions from lawmakers over the circumstances surrounding the collision.
The catastrophe has additionally intensified political uncertainty forward of the early basic elections scheduled for November 29.
The Socialist-led authorities faces the prospect of serious electoral losses, with the tragedy rising as a serious setback for Sánchez and his administration.
Puente had confronted a troublesome selection: remaining in workplace may have been interpreted as a failure to acknowledge the size of the tragedy, whereas resigning risked reinforcing accusations that the federal government bore duty for the catastrophe.
He finally selected to step down, leaving questions on accountability, railway security and the restoration of public confidence within the nation’s transport system.
Attention will now flip to Puente’s successor and whether or not the federal government can rebuild belief in Spain’s high-speed rail community following two lethal accidents in lower than a yr.
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