Tension at the Professional Conservatory of Mallorca over the selection process for the directorship after the death of a candidate

PalmaThe selection process for the directorship of the Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance of Mallorca has been called into question following the sudden death of tenor Antoni Aragón, provisional director of the center and candidate for the position, amid calls for the suspension of the competition, accusations of possible conflict of interest, and criticism of the procedure's impartiality.

According to the educational community in a statement, “at the same time that the selection process for the new director of the Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance of Mallorca began, the death of the renowned tenor Antoni Aragón occurred from an unexpected but fulminant heart attack”. Aragón “had submitted his candidacy, along with his team, for the direction of the center”.

The text assures that “a very large majority of professors as well as representatives of families and the educational community expressed the desire and convenience of suspending the selection process and postponing it until the following academic year in order to recover from the great shock that this event has caused in the entire musical community, to respect the mourning and to give the candidacy an opportunity to recover”.

Extraordinary Senate

Likewise, it indicates that “the teaching staff, gathered in assembly, requested —with the support of more than a third of its members, as established by the regulations for its convening— the holding of an extraordinary plenary session with a single item on the agenda: the request for postponement of the process”. However, according to the statement, “the Conservatory's education inspector, who will be the president of the selection committee, communicated to the current acting management —with a lack of sufficient distance from the facts object of controversy— not to proceed with this convening, alleging that it is not within the competence of the Plenary to make this request”.

In relation to the candidacies, the text points out that “in the framework of this selection process, four projects were submitted, three of which are made up of the same group of people, all members of former management teams, who exchange positions according to the candidacy, and have not shown interest in suspending the process”. It also maintains that “the fourth project has been disqualified following the tragic death of its leader last Thursday, April 2nd” and that “the refusal to postpone the selection process leaves all members of Antoni Aragón's candidacy defenseless”.

Finally, the statement concludes that “the inspector's decision, the peculiarity of the candidacies, and the unprecedented legal situation, objectively compromise the required impartiality, generate a conflict of interest situation, and affect the credibility and validity of the procedure”.

Furthermore, it warns that “the impact of this situation causes a deterioration of the center's internal climate and creates mistrust in the selection process, as it does not guarantee fairness and, moreover, violates the moral and legal duty of abstention established in the current regulations, as well as the principles of equality, merit, capacity, and objectivity that must govern access to public office”.