National
Miguel Sanz takes possession as President of Navarra today
By m.p
Aug 16, 2007 - 10:37 AM

Miguel Sanz, leader of the Unión del Pueblo Navarro party, takes possession of his duties today as the new President of Navarra, in a formal ceremony which takes place in the Navarra parliament at 1 o’clock. It follows a second round of voting at the investiture debate this Saturday, where the Navarra Socialists entered blank voting slips.

It is his fourth mandate at the head of the Navarra regional government.

The opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy, and the Minister for Public Administration, Elena Salgado, will be amongst those to attend the ceremony.

Miguel Arias Cañete, the PP’s secretary for economy and employment, meanwhile announced yesterday that his party are to hold talks with UPN – which is the Navarra branch of the PP – with a view to UPN forming their own parliamentary grouping in Congress. The party is currently grouped in with the Partido Popular in the lower chamber.

Congress regulations make that unlikely, however, with the rule that a parliamentary grouping can only be formed with a minimum of five MPs. UPN have two representatives in Congress, as do the Navarra Socialists, PSN, who form part of the Socialist parliamentary group.

The Navarra nationalist party, Nafarroa Bai, has one seat, and forms part of the Grupo Mixto, and as such, has what is described as its ‘own voice.’

Miguel Sanz said in an interview with the newspaper, Diario de Navarra, that his aim is that NaiBai should not represent the only ‘voice of Navarra’ in Congress.