PNV and PSE-EE have made their agreement official to prevent EH Bildu from governing in the Vitoria City Council and the Guipúzcoa Provincial Council, where it was the political party with the most votes on 28-M. The confirmation of the pact does not specify in which institutions it will materialize and it is obvious that in order to make Maider Etxebarria (PSE) mayor of Vitoria and Eider Mendoza (PNV) deputy general of Guipúzcoa they will need the votes in favor of the Basque PP. But both parties ratify their alliance to guarantee “governance” against the coalition of Arnaldo Otegi.
Nationalists and Socialists have announced their fifth institutional agreement since in 2015 they considered buried the harsh confrontation that broke out in December 2009 when Patxi López agreed to be lehendakari with the support of the PP and, for the first time, send the PNV to the opposition. The brief summary provided by both parties on the new pact alludes directly to the commitment to “governance” in a “diverse and fragmented electoral map in Euskadi” although it makes no reference to the fact that the electoral climate will last, at least, until the next July 23 and explains the speed of this agreement.
The two parties subscribe to the “highly satisfactory balance” of the agreements closed since 2015, although the results of the past 28-M lower the expectations of the PNV while they caused uproar in the PSE-EE on a sad electoral night in Ferran that was signed hours later with the electoral advance decreed by Sánchez.
The two parties allude to the need to establish “clear bases” to guarantee “governance”, ignoring different proposals launched by both the Basque PP -the most generous with its 'gratis et amore' support to plug Bildu- and the coalition abertzale and Podemos, who have reiterated the possible “left” governments with the socialists of Andueza.
PNV and PSE-EE intend to govern with “specific” pacts in those institutions in which they do not achieve a majority and include EH Bildu as possible allies. Those of Otegi, as the coordinator of EH Bildu recalled this week of electoral hangover, has been the faithful ally of Pedro Sánchez in Congress and of María Chivite in the Government of Navarra. It also made it easier for the PNV to govern in Álava municipalities such as Labastida and Laguardia, in which the PP had won in 2019 without reaching an absolute majority.
Andoni Ortuzar and Eneko Andueza will have to explain the content of the agreement and, especially, the influence capacity of Carlos Iturgaiz's PP, reinforced by results that make him the “key” to the investitures and, later, to “governance”.. Arnaldo Otegi himself has insisted in recent days that nationalists and socialists must clarify why they are preventing Rocío Vitero and Maddalen Iriarte from leading the Vitoria City Council and the Guipúzcoa Provincial Council after their victories at the polls.
The two partners include in their announcement the commitment to carry out a “reinforcement of municipal policies, providing our municipalities with sufficient financing”. A wink that responds to the demand of the leaders of the PSE-EE to strengthen the municipal spending capacity, the institution with fewer own resources but which has assumed more social services during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.. PNV and PSE-EE have avoided the debate on the tax reform that is on the table during the electoral campaign. An uncomfortable topic to include in a catalog of promises to the public, but one that will be key from next September.