The president of the EBB of the PNV, Aitor Esteban, has admitted that the general elections are always "difficult" for his party and that the November 29 appointment is presented as "more complex" because of "the polarization" between PP and PSOE. Even so, he has shown himself certain that the PNV will once again have its own group in Congress and will continue to be "protagonists".
In an interview on Telecinco, collected by Europa Press, the jeltzale leader was asked about the support that the PNV has given to Pedro Sánchez's Executive and whether that support could be taking its toll on them. Esteban has responded that "the legislature gave what it gave" and has emphasized that the PNV "was not even in the previous legislature" – nor will it be in the next – willing "to support a majority in which Vox is part".
He has insisted that Vox is a formation that "does not believe in the system, that wants to eliminate the autonomies" and that has openly stated that it "wants to outlaw" the PNV. "Therefore, we are not going to be there", he has stressed.
Along these lines, he has pointed out that the only possible option went through that "very varied majority" that has been "slowly but surely and many times to the displeasure of some and others advancing over the legislature".
Very complicated elections for the PNV
Esteban has explained that now it is time to wait for what happens in the upcoming elections, which he has described as "very difficult" elections for the PNV and, in the current context, still "more complicated and complex" because of the "polarization that exists "between some and others, between PP or PSOE over who is going to reach the presidency of the Government". "That makes it even more difficult," he has pointed out.
The nationalist leader has reiterated that the PNV's objective is to validate its parliamentary group and has shown himself convinced that they will achieve it. "And it is necessary to explain to people that these elections are not only to choose a president", he has emphasized.
Regarding the polls that place EH Bildu ahead of the PNV in seats and point to possible problems in keeping the own group, Esteban has recalled that "he has seen in Congress Bildu with seven, PNV with 5, Pablo Iglesias winning in Euskadi in other elections and the PSOE winning on other occasions".
However, he has highlighted that the PNV "has always been there, with a parliamentary group" and has been "protagonists". "And that is what we aspire to and some polls give us the parliamentary group and others do not, the one that does not give it to us, what they announce, and I think that is what is happening in a large part of societies, is that there are quite a few doubts. A 43% of voters who do not exactly know what they are going to do on election day", he explained.
The president of the EBB has recalled that in this legislature "many screens" have been unfolding one after another and has mentioned the migration crisis of Ceuta, the eviction and subsequent death of Maricarmen, the violence in the streets and, more recently, the railway accident. "It seems that those screens that have been appearing disappear and another issue comes back onto the table. I don't know what is going to happen, I am convinced that we are going to get the parliamentary group", he assured.
Lastly, Esteban has wanted to convey to the citizenry that this is not about "presidential elections" and that the vote is not only to decide "whether it is going to be Feijóo or Sánchez" the next president, but to choose "who are going to be representing the interests of the people, of the citizenry during the next four years".
"And in the case of Euskadi, which has its own agenda, well it is very important that it be represented with people who keep that agenda very much in mind as their priorities", he concluded.