It was not only the right that denied in Congress this Thursday that the journalist Miguel Ángel Oliver was the right person to lead Efe. Even the government's minority partner, Sumar, questioned whether the former communications secretary could guarantee independent leadership of the public news agency. The rest of the executive's parliamentary base, the Catalan and Basque nationalists, opted for a thunderous silence, although they all, like Sumar, ultimately spared the executive a defeat and allowed the approval of the Constitutional Commission of the Congress for the proposed candidate of La Moncloa.
Oliver, 60, passed his parliamentary exams after facing a barrage of criticism from which only the PSOE and the Canary Islands coalition spared him. No one, not even those who voted against the appointment, questioned his professional merits after a long career in radio and television, first at Cadena SER and then at Cuatro. The reason given for rejecting his candidacy for the presidency of the news agency was his affinity for the government and the PSOE, having served as Secretary of State for Communications between 2018 and 2021, being last on that list for the 2021 regional elections.
PP and Vox reported extensively on Oliver's past in order to place his appointment within the strategy of “colonization of institutions” that they attributed to Pedro Sánchez. “The Efe agency needs a president, not a political commissar on the orders of the government president,” said the popular Eduardo Carazo. Both Carazo and Vox MP Lourdes Méndez Monasterio focused in particular on Oliver's appearance in La Moncloa during the first months of the curfew due to the Covid pandemic in spring 2020. Carazo recalled that journalists reporting on the government had one at the time They had signed a protest against the difficulties in asking questions, which the communications minister rejected on the grounds that some informants had “an unhealthy tendency to ask questions”. The popular MP also pointed out that he was the instigator of the dismissal of the former president of Efe, the journalist Fernando Garea, due to the “independent criteria” with which he ran the agency.
Méndez Monasterio added a particular complaint from Vox: Oliver was responsible for “a video of the desecration of Franco’s grave” as the dictator’s remains were removed from Cuelgamuros.
Criticism from the right had already occurred since Oliver's appointment was announced and was to be expected. More surprising were the words of Sumar's spokesman in the commission, Nahuel González, who explained that the candidate met the legal requirements of “experience, competence and knowledge” for the position, but immediately clarified: “Legality is one thing” and another Legitimacy and relevance.” González expressed doubts about Oliver’s “suitability” and his ability to hold the position “independently.”
A contrary vote from Sumar would have caused a significant rift in the government, and the group chose a “critical yes.” The same reasons seemed to weigh on the rest of the majority supporting the executive branch. In this case, ERC, Junts, EH Bildu and PNV limited themselves to being positive and standing by as silent witnesses to the flood of criticism directed at the journalist. Only the sole member of the Canary Islands coalition, Cristina Valido, asked to speak to defend Oliver's “impeccable” CV, which she considered a “perfect candidate”. “You won’t find better resumes,” agreed Socialist Artemi Rallo, who called for “respect” for the candidate. According to Rallo, his past in government not only does not incapacitate him, but rather “enhances” him because he has “accepted the call of public service.”
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Oliver defended himself with a similar argument. He said that it was a “reason of pride” for him to have taken the “symbolic” last place of a PSOE election candidacy, suggesting that he did so out of personal loyalty to the list's frontrunner, Ángel Gabilondo . This led him to argue that, just as Gabilondo was later appointed ombudsman, he could also run for the office of Efe president because there was nothing that “either legally or legitimately incapacitated” him.
Referring to the “mockery” he said he suffered for some of his actions during the pandemic, Oliver explained that he had to improvise press conferences without a physical presence, which forced him to limit the questions. And he added that representatives of some digital media outlets acted more as “activists” than whistleblowers. “I will not be the first Efe journalist,” he assured, before naming some of the current leaders in the editorial team who, in his opinion, will be. “I will not be the political commissar of Efe, that is impossible, I don’t want to be.”
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