The groups with a presence in the General Junta of the Principality of Asturias, with the sole exception of Vox, have reiterated this Wednesday their joint rejection of the new regional financing system promoted by the central Government, after a new session of the financing table.
At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Finance, Guillermo Peláez, detailed that the meeting served to consolidate a common position of PSOE, PP, Izquierda Unida-Convocatoria por Asturies, Foro Asturias and the deputy of the Mixed Group Covadonga Tomé against the proposal that will be put to a vote on July 29 in the Council of Fiscal and Financial Policy. "Asturias will say 'no' with the backing of the financing table," Peláez stated.
Having achieved this internal agreement, Peláez focused his criticism on the national leadership of the PP, indicating that the Asturian Executive feels "orphaned" with respect to the seven communities that signed the Santiago Declaration. According to the minister, Génova would have given the instruction to the regional PP leaders to avoid agreeing to a new financing model with the central Government because the popular leadership is in "demoscopic anxiety" mode. He described this attitude as "enormous irresponsibility" and warned that it complicates the Ministry's willingness to introduce improvements to the text by "having no incentive."
Peláez added that this line set by the national PP not only affects territories such as Asturias, which demand that factors such as population dispersion or aging be weighted, but also the PP communities in the Mediterranean arc which, despite potentially benefiting from the agreement, would also not have authorization to support it.
The head of Finance also announced that the central Government has committed to sending the definitive document to be voted on in the CPFF on the 29th by next July 14. On that same July 14, a technical meeting will also be held between all the autonomous communities to analyze the proposal in detail.
The PP accuses the Government of a "charade" and questions the Asturian PSOE
From the PP, the deputy Andrés Ruiz lashed out at the central Executive for maintaining what he considers a "charade" initiated by the former minister María Jesús Montero. In his opinion, the new model lacks the support of the "vast majority" of the autonomous communities and has been designed "à la carte" for a specific regional government.
Ruiz has also reproached that the PSOE in Asturias incurs in an "absolute bipolarity" by opposing the financing system while "assuming" that it can only be overturned if the PP rejects it in Congress. In this context, he has underlined that "the deputies who are going to defend the voice of Asturias and its needs are the three deputies that the PP of Asturias has".
IU, Mixed Group and Foro see room for negotiation but criticize the model
The spokesperson for IU-Convocatoria por Asturies, Xabel Vegas, has valued that "at least" there is already a text to debate, although he has insisted that it is "improvable". In line with Peláez, he has censured the attitude of the national PP for "refusing to exert pressure" and for not sitting down to negotiate key elements such as adjusted population. Even so, he has defended that "there is room" to continue "negotiating" and "pressuring" the Ministry of Finance until July 29.
The deputy from the Mixed Group, Covadonga Tomé, has indicated that, although the new system foresees more resources for Asturias and for the financing of public services, it also implies a lesser relevance of variables such as aging or territorial dispersion, which "harms Asturias". "It is not a good approach from the Government and we trust that Guillermo Peláez will fulfill what was committed in the financing table," she pointed out.
From the Mixed Group, the parliamentarian Adrián Pumares (Foro) has stressed that the model "clearly harms" Asturias and has warned that, although the regional government will vote against it on July 29, that position will not resolve "anything", since it is enough for a single autonomous community to align with the central Executive for the text to move forward.