The head of the Vox list for Congress in Valencia for the general elections on November 29, Ignacio Gil Lázaro, has claimed "law, order, and democracy" ahead of the upcoming election and has emphasized that there is only "one single alternative" between whether there will be "change" in Spain with his party or whether the current president and candidate for re-election, Pedro Sánchez, "and chaos" will continue in power.
The Vox leader expressed this on Tuesday, in statements to the media, during the presentation event of the party's candidates for Congress in Valencia, held in the Plaza de San Luis Bertrán in the capital. The provincial president of the party, Vicente Barrera, and the former Minister of Agriculture José Luis Aguirre, who will be number 2 for Valencia in the Senate after the agreement reached this Monday between PP and Vox, also spoke at the event.
Gil Lázaro reiterated that on November 29, citizens, both Spanish and Valencian, will face "one single alternative" between "Spain and change" or "Sánchez and chaos" and assured that Vox will carry out a campaign "on the ground, listening to the people." "We are not going to make a message for an ideological sector, we are going to make a message open to all Spaniards and Valencians, because our offer is a common sense offer," he defended.
As priority axes of his proposal, he placed national priority —"the Spaniards, first"—, deregulation —"fewer obstacles and more freedom"— and remigration. "Welcome to all those who have arrived in Spain legally and are willing to work, integrate, contribute, respect our laws and our customs, but all those who come with the sole purpose of living off the social benefits that are lacking for Spaniards, not working, committing crimes or not respecting our laws and our customs and trying to impose theirs, all of them out," he defended.
At the same time, he has admitted that it will not be an "easy" campaign because, as he has stated, "the 'sanchismo' and its militias are already showing that the only resource they have left is the resource of violence." In light of this scenario, he has promised that Vox will not fall "for any provocation," although he has warned that they will not take "a single step back." Likewise, he has demanded that the Government delegate in the Comunitat Valenciana, Roger Llanes, ensure that the electoral period unfolds "without violent altercations." "Law, order, and democracy, respect for all and, in the end, the verdict of the ballot boxes," he has summarized.
"Absolutely not" will Vox's message be diluted with the PP
When questioned about whether the pact with the PP to run for the Senate might dilute Vox's discourse, Gil Lázaro has responded that "absolutely not" will that happen and has emphasized that his party "has been saying the same thing very clearly for many years" and that for this reason "it grows more and more in the electoral forecasts." "The PP is a party with different characteristics, Vox is another different party," he has pointed out.
However, he has valued that both formations have reached a "great patriotic and democratic understanding" based on a "gesture of responsibility, of enormous vision, and of generosity on the part of Vox" with the aim of "preventing Sánchez and the extreme left, in this popular front they have constituted for the Senate, from trying to take, democratically, the cat to the water." In his opinion, "there is a generous, responsible, patriotic, and democratic alternative for the Senate to also reflect what will probably be the great majority that reflects the Congress."
Regarding the possible electoral ceiling of Vox, the candidate for Valencia has refused to "make expectations," enter into "the milkmaid's tale," or "fall into the error that others fell into in July 2023" and has reiterated that his party will develop an "intense" campaign to direct its "common sense" message to "all Valencians." "What we are going to say is what we hear from the people in the neighborhoods, in the towns, in the regions," he has pointed out.
Despite this, Gil Lázaro has declared himself "moderately optimistic" about the results that Vox may obtain on the next 29N: "From what we hear and what the Valencians tell us, the forecasts will be very satisfactory."
Bernabé, "an opportunistic candidate" and the reproaches to the PSOE
Regarding the words of the socialist candidate for Congress, Pilar Bernabé, who has stated that the PP and Vox are already a "marriage" for presenting themselves together in the Senate, the head of the Vox list has criticized that the former government delegate lacks a "message" and has described her as "a candidate of opportunity" and also "co-responsible for all the misdeeds that the Sánchez government has committed in this province of Valencia" with the dana of October 29, 2024.
"This lady has very few things to say," he has stated about Bernabé, whom he has urged to explain "what is the meaning" of the Senate candidacy of Progress, "in which 'sanchismo' will go, among others, with the Valencian variant of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, that is, the independence movement of the Països Catalans." "She already has enough with her own, so she shouldn't worry about others," he has asked her.
On another note, when asked if he anticipates any resignations in his list after the elections, Gil Lázaro has indicated that it is a matter he cannot clarify "at this moment" and has emphasized that the Vox candidacy is "extraordinary" and that he feels "deeply proud" and "enormously grateful."
In this context, he has mentioned the regional deputy Ana Mª Bellver, who will have to leave her seat in Les Corts to take on that of Congress, and has hinted: "I am convinced that we will put some in the position of having to decide whether to go --to Madrid-- or to stay --in Valencia--."
Altercations, calls, and "characters" like Vito Quiles
Regarding a call from the agitator Vito Quiles scheduled for this Wednesday in Valencia, the Vox candidate has refused to comment on "characters who do not represent any political option." "It's like if you asked me what I think about tomorrow being --the singer-- Aitana. Well, very good, great, let her do what she wants," he has exemplified.
In relation to the calls disseminated on social networks that have ended in disturbances in cities like Barcelona or Bilbao, Ignacio Gil Lázaro has reiterated that it is the responsibility of the government delegate to ensure that the campaign is carried out "in terms of democratic normality, law and order, respect among all, and that everyone expresses, as is natural, their messages and opinions from non-violence."
At the same time, he has lashed out against the "riots and the violent extreme left bands that are being turned into Sánchez's militias," whom he has accused of "inciting" these calls, with "the absolute permissiveness of the Government delegates." "This has to end," the candidate has claimed, expressing his confidence that Roger Llanes "will fulfill his duty." "It would be a bad debut and a tremendous burden on his resume if he allowed vandalism here," he has emphasized.
Finally, he has stated that all this "vandalism" is directed "against Vox." "It aims to prevent discussion of what needs to be discussed, but they are going to engage in a futile exercise because we are not going to take a single step back nor will we fall for a single provocation," he has concluded.