Vox rejects the presidency of the Assembly of Extremadura 24 hours after its constitution
The agreement between PP and Vox continues to be stuck less than 24 hours after the constitution of the Assembly of Extremadura. In the second meeting since 28-M between the two formations, which took place early this Monday for the formation of a new government in this autonomous community, there has been no agreement.
María Guardiola -who leads the meetings together with the general secretary of the PP in this region, Abel Bautista- has offered Vox the presidency of the regional parliament and a 15-point programmatic agreement, an offer that Ángel Pelayo Gordillo, elected candidate of Vox Extremadura, has rejected. The regional president of the PP continues like this with her intention to form a solo government without giving any advice to Abascal's party, so for the moment the pact is still far from being reached.
“Let's hope they reconsider, there is still time,” popular sources have pointed out to EL MUNDO, aware of the importance of reaching an agreement before the constitution of the regional parliament, where a rapprochement between the two formations should be staged if they do not want to leave the possibility that the PSOE take over the responsibility of the regional chamber and thus mark the investiture times, in addition to the possibility that Guillermo Fernández Vara, who does not join Podemos, can present his candidacy for the presidency of the Board, as he has assured that he is going to do, despite the fact that they do not give him the numbers.
Vox rejects the presidency of the Assembly of Extremadura: “The PP does not fulfill its pacts”
“This is our approach, the one that we consider most appropriate for Extremadura and the people of Extremadura, putting the interests of the region at the center and in which the presidency of the Assembly of Extremadura for Vox is proposed,” the Popular Party said in a statement made public after the meeting, in which he maintains that “not accepting it means preventing a government of change, for this reason we hope that they will put the interests of Extremadura first in the period that we still have until the constitution of Parliament”.
In any case, the PP of Extremadura does not consider the negotiation closed: “We are waiting for Vox to reconsider its position thinking about the mandate of the people of Extremadura so that a change can take place in the region.”
Vox has offered this Monday to the PP to resign from the vice presidency of the Junta de Extremadura, but sees it as “fundamental” to be part of the next government of the Extremadura executive with the aim of “ensuring the correct functioning of the agreed measures”.. In a statement made public this afternoon, Abascal's formation assures: “We have verified that it is essential that Vox be part of the next Government of the Junta de Extremadura to ensure the correct functioning of the agreed measures,” it points out.. At the same time, he has warned that the PP's “marked red line” of not continuing to talk about the formation of the Government “makes evident the PP's indifference to giving away the Assembly to the PSOE.”
Faced with this situation, Vox has reaffirmed that it has “verified that it is essential” that “it forms part of the next Government of the Junta de Extremadura to ensure the correct functioning of the agreed measures”, since according to what it points out, “the PP has already demonstrated in places like Madrid or Andalusia that, without the presence of Vox in governments, the programmatic agreements reached have been systematically broken”. Finally, Vox recalls that their votes are “absolutely necessary for the formation of the alternative in Extremadura.”
heal the wounds
In this context, the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, stated this Monday that in Extremadura it is necessary to “heal the wounds” caused by the “socialist red lines” marked by the PP candidate for the Presidency of the Board, María Guardiola, to negotiate with his party the formation of a government.
In an interview in Periodista Digital, according to Efe, he pointed out that he has not reached an agreement with the national leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, so as not to reach agreements with regional governments before the general elections on July 23.
“It is in sight”, he indicated, referring to the agreement reached in the Valencian Community, the “very serious” difficulties to adopt it in the Balearic Islands and “the need to heal wounds in Extremadura, where the red lines that the candidate has imposed on Vox during campaign are socialist red lines”.
Apart from this, regarding his opinion that Vox can guarantee an alternative majority to the PSOE in Extremadura, he explained that this would mean ending clientelism, with “absolutely unproductive” political spending and defending the interests of the Extremaduran countryside, “which at the moment it is being attacked” like that of Europe “by the directives of the bureaucrats of Brussels”.
Guardiola's 15 points
In the programmatic agreement that Guardiola has offered to Vox in Extremadura, it is noted in the first place that the PP has obtained 38.55% of the votes in Extremadura and a representation of 28 deputies and Vox, 8.12% and five deputies. In this sense, and to ensure “the stability of the legislature”, in the distribution of the Board of the Assembly, this formation would “resign” one of the vice-presidencies and one of the secretaries of the regional Chamber, which would go to the PP while that Vox would hold the presidency.
Regarding programmatic issues, the PP offers a comprehensive tax reduction, the dense countryside of Extremadura and the profitability of farmers and ranchers; the completion of infrastructures; a pact for dignified healthcare; an Education of “quality, free and without ideological bias”; the promotion of the birth rate and support for families; the brake on depopulation and the march of young people; the protection of industrial assets and infrastructure threatened for ideological reasons; commitment to harmony and respect for the memory of all Extremadurans and Spaniards; support for SMEs and promotion of self-employment; approval of an industrial plan; the efficiency of spending in administration; the review and relaxation of environmental barriers; the defense of the rural world, the traditions and the identity of Extremadura; and a new forestry policy.
Vox wants to enter the Government
Vox's political spokesman, Jorge Buxadé, has revealed that his formation has resigned in negotiations with the PP to hold a vice presidency in Extremadura but has demanded to be part of the regional Executive chaired by Guardiola. “We cannot renounce that Vox has members in the government that ensure and guarantee any compliance with the Extremadura government agreement,” he revealed.
This has meant that the meeting held this Monday between the negotiating commissions of PP and Vox in Extremadura ended without an agreement, but those of Santiago Abascal continue “with an outstretched hand” to seek a consensus. “Vox has already said before the campaign and after that neither blackmail nor gifts,” Buxadé has made clear.