New duel between Alegría and Azcón: this is how the Aragonese political map is reorganized

There is still a lot of water to flow and a few organic processes to be held so that the electoral competition between Jorge Azcón, current president of Aragón, and Pilar Alegría, since Tuesday Minister of Education, Vocational Training and Sports and spokesperson for the Government of Aragón, can be reissued. Spain. In 2019 they faced each other for the mayor of Zaragoza and the most voted was the socialist candidate, who obtained 10 councilors compared to the popular candidate's 8.. Although it was Azcón who occupied the mayor's office by agreeing with Ciudadanos and Vox.

Pilar Alegría thus began her political periphrasis, which took her to the Government delegation in Aragon and, in 2021, to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, the one that her mother did not believe, as she confessed in her recent inauguration in the that added new responsibilities and reinforced it to take the leadership of Aragonese socialism in the future..

The two opponents now have greater tasks than when they ran for mayor to replace the episodic Zaragoza en Común and mark the future of Aragonese politics. Of similar age (Azcón, 1973, and Alegría, 1977), both have been in politics their entire lives. Graduates from the University of Zaragoza, one in Law and the other in Teaching, they joined their organizations from a very young age and along the way they have experienced the honey and ice of long militancy..

The one who has the route expeditious and with several lanes available is Jorge Azcón: at the same time that Alegría was promoted, he completed his first hundred days of Government with a few duties passed cleanly, an unquestionable leadership on the Aragonese right – with a firm vocation for regroup it – and become a regional baron. Although it was difficult for him to be invested and form the team, in a few weeks he has launched the budgets for 2024, more expansive than those of his predecessor, Javier Lambán; It is focusing on large projects –Amazon or Microsoft, which came with a tailwind, or its Pyrenees plan–, and has promoted the first promised tax reductions: deflate personal income tax, raise the minimum exempt from Patrimony and improve Inheritance and Donations.

La Romareda, 20 years of headache

It has also unblocked conflicts such as urgent medical transport and has compromised the direct participation of the Aragonese Government in the reconstruction of the Romareda, a headache that Zaragoza residents have suffered for more than 20 years.. Even, little by little, in the same way that it has integrated the three families into which the PAR broke out, it dedicates special attention to its largest partner, Vox: that its extremisms remain below the management.

And if the Aragonese president has dedicated his energy to something, it is to be one of the voices of the Popular Party in defense of equality before the law, with the rejection of the amnesty, and of the resources of the Autonomous Communities against the concessions that may be made. do Pedro Sánchez to Basques and Catalans in exchange for the support they have given him to become president.

Thus, in addition to speaking out at every step of the process, he has promoted the convening of the Conference of Presidents in the Senate, thus reinforcing the role of this chamber, in which the PP, from its majority, will play all the available cards.. The Conference will give the regional leaders the opportunity to institutionally stage their demands and their rejection of unequal treatment. And Jorge Azcón is going to be one of the spokespersons from his speech that the pacts “dismantle the Autonomous State” and leave “first and second class communities”.

“An Aragonese woman, spokesperson for the amnesty”

And that the Aragonese president expects Pilar Alegría as a rival was a good example of her statements after being appointed spokesperson. Although he wished her the best, he added: “It saddens me that an Aragonese woman is going to be the spokesperson for the amnesty.”. And that will be precisely Alegría's challenge: that this role in the face of such an unpopular measure does not hinder her career.. For the moment it will not have to be used electorally in Aragon, since all the indicators indicate that, barring surprises, Jorge Azcón's cycle will be long since the votes that won the Government, from the PAR to Vox, add up to a large majority, with 36 of 67 seats. Although it is forgotten, the PSOE governed because the PAR supported it.

First it will have to be used to replace the general secretary of the PSOE Aragón. It is the Aragonese bet of Pedro Sánchez, who is not going to forgive Javier Lambán's free verse position of recent years. In fact, a few days after the Federal Committee of the PSOE supported Sánchez's pacts and the amnesty, Lambán once again demonstrated against. Of course, the rest of the party in Aragon was either in favor or remained silent, in a clear symptom of the change in leadership that is coming..

In that horizon, Pilar Alegría has two challenges. On the one hand, survive the cauldron of the Government spokesperson, with Puigdemont returning and agreeing to compensation. That backpack can be very heavy for a community like Aragonese, especially sensitive to the inequality of treatment with respect to Catalonia.. Internally, everything can be easier. As soon as the federal congress of the PSOE is held and gives way to the regional ones, everyone hopes that the new majorities will be favorable to the president of the Government.

Also in Aragon. With the departure of Pignatelli, Lambán's PSOE has lost the power of prescription that the Government gave it to hold. The PSOE only retains the Provincial Council of Zaragoza, an institution that has welcomed several senior officials as advisors, including the spokesperson for the Teruel City Council.. And the silences after the Federal pro-amnesty express the jibarization of the dissidence, which indicate that the Aragonese socialist planet will turn towards the sun Sánchez.

The question that floats is whether Pilar Alegría can combine the spokesperson of the Government (yes with the ministry) with the general secretary of the PSOE. Experience says that spokespersons do not last the entire legislature; In fact, Spain has had six presidents of the Executive since 1977 and 23 spokespersons, of which only three have exceeded three years: Rosa Conde, Teresa Fernández de la Vega and Soraya Saénz de Santamaría.

As the Azcón era is expected to be prolonged, that would make it easier to combine both responsibilities. In taking control of the party, the PSOE of Huesca and half of Zaragoza will help him, while they give time for the other half to move with the help of Sánchez Quero, president of the Provincial Council, and turn Teruel..

Make opposition with 43 PIGAs on your back

Meanwhile, Javier Lambán will finish his term as regional secretary and public officials are trying to position themselves. On the one hand, facing the effects of national decisions. On the other hand, given the difficulty of making opposition in crucial aspects such as the installation of renewables – which will be the subject of a Commission of investigation in the Cortes – or given the profusion of PIGAs (Aragon General Interest Plan); Lambán signed no less than 43 of these a la carte agreements to facilitate the installation of companies, some of them, such as the requalification to expand Plaza, have been questioned by the Accounts Chamber.

The changes in positions in the face of a need such as reforming the Romareda and in which PP and PSOE are tied for failures, do not help them either. Yes, the socialist parliamentarians are active in the face of the profile of Azcón's parliamentary appearances, criticisms that are of little concern in the PP given what they interpret as an interim period similar to the one that afflicted them in the not too distant past. What is clear is that the future of Aragonese politics already belongs to another generation whose leaders begin with A. De Azcón, one of his closest collaborators, who had long said that he would be mayor, president and minister. He already has two of those positions. Joy has started with the Ministry.