The president of UPN and candidate for the Government of Navarra in the upcoming regional elections, Cristina Ibarrola, assured this Wednesday that "corruption has become the greatest political burden of the Government of Chivite and EH Bildu."
In a balance of the three years of the legislature, she stated that "the deterioration of trust in María Chivite is increasing every day" and attributed this loss of credibility to her "disastrous management of public services" and to three specific elements: "The spurious agreements known between Santos Cerdán and EH Bildu to share institutional power; the alleged corrupt plot that received public works contracts in exchange for paying kickbacks led by Santos Cerdán according to the judge's order; and the illegal awarding of the works of the Belate tunnels to those companies of the plot, which has ended up being investigated by Justice within the case of public works rigging."
According to Ibarrola, "Chivite and Asiron owe their position to an alleged corrupt individual." In her opinion, "without the corrupt plot, Chivite would never have been president, because Cerdán, Antxon, Koldo, and company needed María Chivite in power. The interests of Santos Cerdán were what they were, and Chivite and EH Bildu have benefited."
She emphasized that "the reality is that the works of Belate represent 76 million euros awarded by the Government of Chivite to the UTE where Cerdán's company is, and part of the money from that UTE has ended up in the bank cards that Cerdán used."
In this line, she pointed out that "the greatest support and political backer of María Chivite is allegedly profiting from an award from her Government, and María Chivite continues in vain trying to evade responsibility, she continues forward at any cost, among other things, dragging the image of Navarra through the mud."
After reproaching that "this socialist Government, in addition to worsening public services, has destroyed the Navarra brand and has linked it to corruption, criminal plots, and kickbacks for public works contracts," she opined that the president "should have assumed political responsibilities a long time ago."
Ibarrola has emphasized that "there is no makeup that can cover up the stench of corruption and the poor management of public services of the Government of Chivite and EH Bildu." She added that "Navarra only leads the indices of alleged corrupt individuals. Since Chivite arrived, it has worsened in any parameter we want to compare with other Communities."
The regionalist leader has stated that "the Government of Chivite and EH Bildu is turning out to be the worst in democracy for being attended by a doctor, for buying a home, for a young Navarrese to be able to emancipate, or to create a family, a business, or a company."
Likewise, she has denounced that "the submission to EH Bildu has even led the PSN to change its position regarding the Transitory Fourth" of the Constitution, which regulates the possible integration of Navarra into Euskadi. She claims that "now they endorse the path that allows Navarra to become part of the Basque Republic that Otegi so much demands."
In terms of coexistence, Ibarrola has warned that "the worst of all is that coexistence is cracking with episodes of hatred towards those who do not think the same way as the radical left abertzale and cases of the return of 'kale borroka'." In her view, "EH Bildu feels stronger than ever and knows that it has the upper hand." In this context, she has stated that "the PSN-Bildu alliance will continue because both are interested in maintaining a relationship that has its origin in Cerdán and the corrupt plot that is being investigated and affects the awarding of the Belate tunnels."
Cristina Ibarrola has pointed out that "today the Navarrese society is asking until when, Mrs. Chivite, is it worth continuing in this situation." She has emphasized that "there is no political or personal project that can be sustained on the lack of political ethics, immorality, suspicions, and judicial investigations for corruption. There is no political or personal project that can withstand the social onslaught of indignation and distrust."
Regarding the upcoming regional elections, and when asked about a possible coalition between UPN and PP or the option to run alone, she has responded that "that moment has not arrived, we are working day by day for Navarra to regain what it was with UPN." She has defended that "we have the confidence of the majority of Navarrese society, we are a party with our own project. Future alliances or not will be decided in the party's bodies. We are working to gain the trust of the Navarrese citizens every day."
"THE GOVERNMENT INCREASES ITS REVENUE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS"
During her speech, the president of UPN has also criticized that "we have a Government that increases its revenue at the expense of the middle class and that continues to fatten its structure with almost 200 new positions in two legislatures and a cost of 40 million euros."
He detailed that "Navarra collected 49% more in 2025 than in 2019, a total of 1.925 billion euros more that comes from the pockets of citizens, workers, self-employed, companies, collection that continues to increase in the first half of 2026." In his opinion, "the Government has plenty of room to relieve taxes and let people have greater disposable income, but it does not want to. Today we have learned that the average taxpayer in Navarra works 231 days for the Treasury, 50 days more since Chivite became president. He works almost two months more to pay taxes and receive worse services."
Ibarrola has indicated that "since 2019, tax collection in Navarra has grown by 49%, the cost of living by 25%, and the average salary by 18.6%." He emphasized that "collection has grown twice as much as the cost of living and 2.5 times the increase in the average salary." In comparison, "the Basque Autonomous Community presents a level of attraction for foreign investment twice that of Navarra. From 2019 to 2025, 173 more companies have left than have arrived, and the trend in 2026 continues to be negative."
In the health sector, he has denounced that it has gone "from the best healthcare in the country to a system where accessing a doctor when you need it has become an almost impossible mission if you do not have private health insurance." At this point, he highlighted that "the number of people who have taken out private insurance has doubled."
Regarding the guaranteed income model, he has opined that "it is a failure that generates a 'pull effect' that places us in an incomprehensible situation for thousands of citizens." He specified that "in 10 years, spending on guaranteed income has increased from 63.8 million euros in 2015 to 108.8 million in 2025, an increase of 70%."
In addition, he lamented that "in the assessment of disability, the average time has gone from 5 months in 2019 to 13.5 months currently."
Regarding citizen security, Ibarrola has pointed out that "the crime rate is above the national average and we are the second Community with the highest rate of victims of gender violence per 10,000 women."