The spokesperson of the PP in Les Corts, Nando Pastor, has attacked the general secretary of the PSPV and minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, and the socialist spokesperson in the Valencian parliament, José Muñoz, whom he blames for "intimidating and scaring people" through "lies" with the aim of demobilizing citizens and preventing their presence at the gatherings called this Wednesday by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) in support of Ceuta after the migration crisis.
In statements to the media, Pastor responded to Muñoz after he accused the PP of using the FEMP and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP) in the Comunitat Valenciana to make partisanship with these calls. The socialist spokesperson defended that these entities "cannot be an organ of confrontation and partisan use, which is what the PP and Vox are doing," he stated.
The PP leader replied that this "attitude" of the PSPV "borders on the mafia" and pointed to Morant and Muñoz for resorting, according to him, to "more mafia than political practices" with the aim of "demotivating and dissuading the Valencians, neither for good nor for bad, who freely want to attend gatherings that the PP has not organized, which has been organized by the Spanish and Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces," he defended.
Regarding the purpose of these gatherings, Pastor explained that they seek to "simply say something as simple as that --the Spanish citizens-- are with Ceuta and that they are completely in disagreement with all the lack of political leadership that has been present for a month" in the autonomous city.
He also criticized that "it is not right for a minister, for a leader of the Valencian socialists, for a spokesperson of the PSPV to dedicate themselves to intimidating, to scaring people, to spreading lies, to calling parallel gatherings in order to dissuade and make it so that this afternoon people cannot freely manifest and express themselves freely and voluntarily," he affirmed.
Criticism of the gathering in Gandia
In relation to the mobilizations of the morning, Nando Pastor has highlighted that the concentration called by the City Council of Gandia —governed by the PSPV— has recorded a "low participation" and has emphasized "the low response of the citizens of Gandia, the homeland of Diana Morant, the homeland of --José Manuel-- Prieto, where barely 30 people have responded to the call of the socialist mayor who intended to counter-program the concentration this afternoon".
He has also reproached the leader of the Valencian socialists and Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities for not having "the shame to show up there to highlight what her mayor has asked for, which was to concentrate at 12 in the morning". In his opinion, "it is a true madness everything that is happening, it is a true nonsense", he has remarked, insisting that the call "has been fatal". "The socialists have flopped today", he has emphasized.
In the face of this situation, the spokesperson of the PP has defended that from his party "we neither encourage nor discourage" attending the concentrations of the FEMP. "What we want is to invite people who want to voluntarily come to concentrate", Pastor has stated, who has rejected the use of "mafia practices". "We criticize them, of course we do", he has stressed.
In this context, he has called on "those good Valencians who want to freely express that support and backing for the city of Ceuta and that rejection of what is being experienced, that lack of management, that lack of political leadership that has been experienced in Ceuta for a month" to participate in the afternoon events.
Debate on attendance and accusations of hate
When questioned about the possible turnout at the evening concentrations, Pastor has pointed out that he does not expect "either a lot or a little" participation, but "that people can come freely and voluntarily". He has warned that "one should not be subjected to pressures from the socialists, pointing out that if those who go are or are not. I have not accused or insinuated anything about who was going to be or not when they called this morning", he has asserted.
Once again, he has used Gandia as an example, where he has reiterated that the call promoted by the city council has been "an authentic failure." He has accused the socialist mayor, José Manuel Prieto, of trying to "cancel and sabotage" the call from the FEMP for the afternoon. "It backfired on him, because not even the socialist family of Gandia was there," he exemplified.
According to Pastor, not even the secretary of Organization of the PSPV, "number two" of Morant and councilor in Gandia, Vicent Mascarell, attended, something he has interpreted as "an authentic failure in political terms."
Regarding the criticisms from the PSPV, which accuses the PP of using the FEMP and the FVMP for partisan purposes and fostering hatred, the 'popular' spokesperson in Les Corts has replied that those who act this way "are the ones who spread 'fakes', hoaxes, lies and threaten people so they don't go to the concentration." "Those who generate hatred are precisely those who establish parallel concentrations to distinguish the good from the bad," he added.
He also recalled that in the FEMP "all political parties are represented, exactly all, not just the PP." "And we, simply as good democrats that we are, attend freely, we could choose not to, to a call from the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, not the Valencian federation of the PP," he distinguished.
Internal issues of the FVMP
In this regard, he responded to the PSPV that, in his opinion, those who fuel the tension "are them, never us." "I believe that is a very clear issue that is clearly on the table today," he added.
Finally, when asked whether the president of the FVMP, Paqui Bartual (PP), submitted the call for the concentration on Ceuta to the deliberation of the decision-making bodies of the entity, Nando Pastor pointed out that on this matter "we will have to ask her." "I truly do not know those internal regime issues at this time," he concluded.