Sánchez relents and takes a photograph with the Bildu spokesperson in Congress

2023-10-13 18:45:11

Pedro Sánchez has given in and after four years of agreements with Bildu, he has been photographed with the spokespersons in Congress and the Senate Mertxe Aizpurua and Gorka Elejabarrieta. He is the first image of the socialist leader with leaders of the Abertzale left, since until now the meetings were always led by other PSOE leaders.

The meeting lasted around an hour and Aizpurua remained silent, avoiding appearing in the press room. Nor has Patxi López, spokesperson for the socialists, appeared before journalists to avoid a thorny issue.

Sánchez attended the meeting accompanied by the Secretary of Organization of the PSOE Santos Cerdán, who will be in charge of carrying out the negotiations with Bildu since he is well versed in the nationalist left, which won five deputies in the Basque Country and one in Navarra.

Those statements by Sánchez denying agreeing with Bildu are now very far away. The socialist leader has already agreed to be photographed with leaders of the nationalist left despite the fact that the independence party continues to refuse to condemn the murders of ETA and despite the fact that a week ago he refused to condemn the attacks on the tomb of Fernando Buesa, murdered by ETA in the year 2000.

It is true that Bildu has been changing a lot in its speech and has focused on Congress on social and economic aspects, leaving aside the territorial portfolio to facilitate reaching agreements with the PSOE. However, Arnaldo Otegi has already warned that this legislature is going to demand that the melon of the territorial debate be opened and that debate has an unpredictable outcome.

In any case, in a subsequent note, Bildu has claimed the “image that the meeting held” between Sánchez and the Abertzale leaders conveys to both Basque citizens and the Spanish State as a whole. “In a political context where tension, noise and bad manners try to impose themselves on the political debate, this meeting reflects a way of understanding political activity and placing oneself in the current historical moment, in a permanent exercise of responsibility and respect, for on top of another criterion or interest,” said Bildu, who avoids revealing what has been discussed and has implied that his “yes” to Sánchez’s investiture is guaranteed to prevent PP and Vox from reaching the Government.

“Because stopping the reactionary right is an essential condition for opening a new legislature that, in the opinion of EH Bildu, must deepen the expansion of the social and economic rights of Basque workers and the State, the consolidation of policies that promote peace and democratic coexistence in Euskal Herria and the opening of a debate around the plurinationality of the State and the national rights of our people,” says the Abertzale left, which concludes by highlighting that the meeting allows “to build a framework of trust to address a cycle of dialogue, negotiation and agreement”.