2023-07-20 23:36:45
by Joaquín Manso and Juanma Lamet
The leader favored in the polls: «We want to dismiss Sanchismo. The alliance with Vox? We have some points in common, on other issues they have absurd positions ». The opening to Meloni in the Ppe
Minus two. In two days, the Spaniards will go to the polls to renew Parliament and it will finally be known whether the opposition led by the People’s Party (centre-right) will be able to oust the socialist Pedro Sánchez, in government since 2018. Polls are prohibited in this final phase of the electoral campaign, the latter giving the PP the lead but far from the absolute majority of 176 seats that would allow him to govern alone. All scenarios are open, while the streets are heating up in many cities, especially in those, such as Valencia, where the PP has already begun to govern with the Vox right. We publish here the interview of the colleagues of the Spanish newspaper «El Mundo» with the president of the PP Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
What do you expect from a win for her and the PP this Sunday?
«The result would be greater than the sum of Sánchez and Yolanda Diaz. Other than that, it would be an amazing achievement. I will continue on the path indicated by the polls and I personally ask the voters to ensure a clean government, without coalitions”.
Aim for the goal of getting more than 150 deputies. With such an outcome, you would need the support of Vox. What limits does the PP intend to place on Vox after the elections?
«Something like 150 deputies would already be an exceptional success, fifteen months after the serious internal crisis of the party. However, I am aiming for an even better result, because we receive the signal from the citizens of a strong turnout for the vote. There is a desire for change. For me the socialist party must go back to being the socialist party. And the socialist party must not allow Sánchez to create new obstacles”.
But the PSOE has already said it will not abstain. In such a scenario, do you really not admit the possibility of a government with some ministers proposed by Vox? Is this a hypothesis that he completely dismisses?
“The appointment of ministers reminds me a lot of the Andalusian countryside, in which Mr. Moreno was a radical and Mrs. Olona would become Mr. Moreno’s vice president. Let the people express themselves. People know very well that setting up a coalition government with Vox is not the best choice for Spain. And that there is no party that can feel legitimized to hinder our country”.
You speak of a “desire for change” and cite the Andalusian case, which received an absolute majority. Don’t you rule out such a scenario?
“I know it’s very difficult.”
Could you expect a surprise?
“I’m not ruling it out. We have more than 40 percent of the vote in most of the autonomous regions, but we fall to 16 percent in Catalonia. Reaching an absolute majority with this 16 percent in Catalonia will be very complicated. However, polls are starting to indicate the PP as the second or third political force in that region. And it seems to me a good indicator.
Why is he so wary of reaching a hypothetical majority with Vox?
“Because I don’t agree with their program.”
What exactly does he not share?
“I don’t share their position on the territorial organization of the state. Neither their approach to climate change, male-dominated violence, nor their idea of confrontation. I do not share the positions of most of their managers. With another party it is possible to discuss and proceed together, but at this moment I cannot even say with certainty who is in charge in Vox».
What are the common points?
«First of all the idea of the nation. Secondly, their commitment to the security forces maintaining their presence on the national territory. And finally, I share the commitment to stand up to independence impulses. I share the need to extend the common language of the state to all sectors of the state. As well as their interest in repealing Sanchismo. What I cannot share is their joint venture with Sanchismo to prevent the PP from gaining a majority. And in fact this is a common goal. It is undeniable. I disagree with Vox’s proposal to give positions to no-vax characters, for example. I find it absurd.”
Vox is a party that grew up with the support of a part of the voters who initially supported the PP. And this happens immediately after the last government of the PP.
“That’s right.”
What lessons have you drawn from it?
«We need to re-found our party and I will try. If we govern alone, there will be possibilities to re-found the PP and go back to being the big house of the reformist centre-right. We’ll try, at least, with a part of Vox. How do you explain the rise of Vox? With the thrust of left-wing populism, automatically followed by an opposite reaction. Also because there has been an attack on the unity of the nation, to which the PSOE has responded with a certain timidity, and hence the robust response of the electorate».
He spoke of a certain pincer of Sanchismo and Vox against the PP. Would you prefer to negotiate a nomination with the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party)?
“If I’m missing six deputies, I’ll go look for those parties with which I’m in harmony from a political, economic, industrial, fiscal, environmental point of view… but the PNV will have to commit itself to avoiding any referendum concerning self-determination”.
Do you agree with Santiago Abascal, who argues that tensions in Catalonia will increase with a right-wing government?
«I don’t intend to cause any tension, but I don’t allow blackmail. And I wouldn’t want the separatists to believe that the state is negotiable”.
Therefore, will your main promise at the end of the electoral campaign be to restore harmony in Spain?
“I’ll try. I have very clear ideas about it. If the Spaniards vote for me, it will be precisely for this, and for this very reason I have been appointed head of the PP. Not for anything else. For this objective and to restore the Spanish economy”.
What is your program for the first hundred days of government?
«It will be a more austere government, first of all. Second point, the autonomy of the judiciary… The economic package is inevitable, as we will have to negotiate the stability pact and present a proposal in 90 days. We will have to manage the rotating presidency of the EU with the utmost diligence. We are also thinking about a tax cut and we are already working on the legislative decrees to be passed. And there will be a reform of the penal code».
The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is among the leading players in Europe today. In this electoral campaign, you have given your support to Vox. What will your relationships be?
«Correct and fruitful. I believe that Mrs. Meloni will be able to have greater contacts with the European People’s Party in the future”.
Will you support Meloni’s entry into the European People’s Party?
«It will depend on Mrs. Meloni’s attitude, but I am convinced, from what my friend Antonio Tajani tells me, that Meloni’s positions worry us much less today than when she was elected to government. However, the choices of the various countries must be respected, and their electorate respected. We have always maintained excellent relations with the Italians in our positions within the EU. With Tajani, vice president and foreign minister, I hope to continue in this direction”.
Would it therefore be desirable for the EU for Giorgia Meloni to join the EPP?
“Undoubtedly.”
How do you plan to restore the economy?
«We need to tell the Spaniards the truth about the current state of the debt. The worst thing for a patient is to ignore the diagnosis, because then no one will bother to find an adequate therapy. Our truth is called public debt, which exceeds 110 percent of GDP, and interest prevents us from making investments in our country. The banks make a business of collecting the interest on Spain’s immense public debt. Eight million euros every hour, 200 million euros a day. This is the public debt that we inherited from Mr. Sánchez. He was an excellent president for the banks, but a terrible one for society. Every child born now already has a debt of seven thousand euros. It is absurd to think that we are living on the shoulders not only of our children, but even of our grandchildren».
(translation by Rita Baldassarre)
July 20, 2023 (change July 20, 2023 | 23:35)
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