100 days of Carlos Mazón's Government with Vox that does not wear down the PP
On July 19, 2023, Carlos Mazón announced the composition of his Government at the head of the Generalitat Valenciana, which would be formed by the PP and Vox. They had closed a month before an agreement that, after that of Castilla y León a year before, opened the doors of autonomous power to the party of Santiago Abascal. The leader of the Valencian PP was the first to dare to do so, in the middle of the electoral campaign for the general elections of 23-J and under the omens of problems that would hinder the government's action and, with it, the image of the popular. The distant positions on key issues such as gender violence – which Vox snuck into the agreement as 'domestic violence' – or climate change were seen as a cause of friction and led to the formation of governments such as that of Extremadura.. 100 days later, the Mazón Government has not had internal wear and tear and, in addition, has encountered an opposition with a low-profile leadership, in the absence of Ximo Puig and without Baldoví effect.
The “Government of change”, as the president calls it, will see this Thursday approved in the plenary session of the Cortes one of the first measures to which it committed: eliminating, with a 99% bonus, the inheritance and donation tax with effect since last May 28, but it is also finalizing the fiscal policy that it will present in the Budget Accompanying Law, such as the introduction of “social deductions” for low incomes. There has been no discrepancy to apply cuts to senior positions in the Administration or to promote changes in linguistic policy in the educational field, where the obligation to study any subject in Valencian in Spanish-speaking areas will be eliminated.. In these issues, as well as in other essential ones such as the demand for water or the defense of the Valencian “identity signs”, there is no friction between the two partners.
“We are a single government”. That is the premise that the Consell does not stop repeating.. Vox has a vice presidency, the Ministry of Culture, Justice and the Interior and Agriculture, but the sensitive areas were reserved by Mazón for the PP by virtue of the proportion that the polls showed on May 28.. The main one is gender violence. If the president made his partner understand that it was not convenient to have in his government a person convicted of gender violence, the Vox candidate Carlos Flores Juberías also made it clear that the government's action in this matter would be under the control of the vice president. second, Susana Camarero, renowned defender of policies against sexist violence, and of the figure of a “commissioner” whose function is to “promote and coordinate” all public policies for prevention and care for victims.
In the 100 days of coexistence between PP and Vox, obstacles have arisen, but the popular ones, with their president at the helm, have known how to smooth them out. The main one was deactivated by Mazón without letting it explode: he urgently convened the Consell and suddenly dismissed the undersecretary of Justice and Interior just a few hours after learning that he had not reported a previous conviction for attacking his ex-wife.. Nor did he hesitate to reaffirm that Justice will maintain the three Offices of Complaints and Assistance to Victims of Gender Violence after the Vox counselor doubted. Even in the change of banner in the Cortes to condemn the murders, the PP extracted from its partners an agreement on “No to violence against women.”
Without Puig face to face
Another difference that was predicted and that has not yet emerged is their position on climate change.. In its government design, the PP also reserved environmental policies, separating them from agriculture, which guarantees its control.
In these 100 days, PP and Vox have encountered a low-profile opposition. On the one hand, Ximo Puig has not appeared in the Cortes as the figure that opposes Mazón. The ex-president combines his work as regional deputy and general secretary of the PSPV with that of territorial senator, but the spokesperson in the Cortes has ceded it to former councilor Rebeca Torró and has opted for an opposition formula, “a Council in the shadows” which is still filming.
On the Compromís side, Joan Baldoví has not yet managed to overcome the burden of the change of leadership last year, which went from Mónica Oltra to Aitana Mas in the Consell and from Fran Ferri to Papi Robles in the Cortes.