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 reproaches for "intimidating and scaring people" by spreading "falsehoods" with the aim of discouraging attendance at the gatherings called this Wednesday by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) in support of Ceuta after the migration crisis.
These statements were made before the media after Muñoz accused the PP of using the FEMP and, in the case of the Valencian Community, also the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP) to make partisanship with these calls. The spokesperson of the PSPV has defended that these entities "cannot be an organ of confrontation and partisan use, which is what the PP and Vox are doing," he stated.
Pastor responded that this "attitude" of the socialists "borders on the mafia" and directly pointed to Morant and Muñoz for resorting, in his opinion, to "more mafia than political practices" in order to "demotivate and dissuade 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, he explained that it is about "simply saying 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 existed for a month" in the autonomous city.
"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 falsehoods, 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 stated.
Criticism of the call in Gandia
In this context, Nando Pastor has assured that the concentration promoted by the Gandia City Council —governed by the PSPV— at noon 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 counterprogram the concentration this afternoon."
He has also reproached the socialist leader and Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities for not having "the shame to show up there to highlight what her mayor has requested, which was to concentrate at 12 in the morning." "It is a true absurdity everything that is happening, it is a true nonsense," he has emphasized, insisting that this call "has been fatal." "The socialists have flopped today," he has underlined.
In contrast to that action, the PP spokesperson has defended that from his party "we neither encourage nor discourage" attending the FEMP concentrations. "What we want is to invite people who want to voluntarily attend to concentrate," Pastor has pointed out, rejecting the use of "mafia practices." "We criticize them, of course we do," he has stressed.
In any case, he has called for the attendance in the afternoon of "those good Valencians who want to freely express that support and backing to 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."
Expectations of attendance and the Gandia case
When questioned about how many people he expects to attend the afternoon concentrations, Pastor has responded that he does not expect "either many or few," but "that people can attend freely and voluntarily." He has demanded that there be no "pressures from the socialists, pointing out that whether those who go are or are not. I have not accused or insinuated anything about who was going to be there or not when they called this morning," he has asserted.
He has again referred to Gandia, where he has reiterated that the municipal call has been "a true failure." In this line, he has accused the socialist mayor, José Manuel Prieto, of trying to "uninvite and sabotage" the FEMP concentration scheduled for the afternoon. "It backfired on him, because even the socialist family of Gandia was not there," he has exemplified.
According to Pastor, the secretary of Organization of the PSPV, "number two" of Morant and councilor in Gandia, Vicent Mascarell, has also not attended, something he has interpreted as "an authentic failure in political terms."
Cross accusations about hate and partisan use
Regarding the criticisms from the PSPV, which accuses the PP of instrumentalizing the FEMP and the FVMP for partisan purposes and encouraging hate, the 'popular' spokesperson in Les Corts has replied that those who engage in such practices "are those who launch 'fakes', hoaxes, lies and threaten people so they do not go to concentrate." "Those who generate hate 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, freely attend, we could choose not to, a call from the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, not the Valencian federation of the PP," he distinguished.
Internal debate in the FVMP
For all this, he has responded to the PSPV that, in his opinion, those who feed the climate of hate and 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 decision-making bodies of the entity, Nando Pastor has pointed out that on this matter "we will have to ask her." "I truly do not know those internal regime issues at this moment," he concluded.