The president of the EBB of the PNV, Aitor Esteban, has defended that the jeltzale representation in Madrid acts as a “policy to protect and care for the Basque House” with “clear clauses and no fine print,” and has emphasized that they will not be “in anyone’s arms.” “Neither red nor blue carpets,” he stressed, insisting that, with Vox, “nothing.”
The PNV has kicked off the campaign in the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca in Vitoria-Gasteiz, at an event attended by institutional positions from the party and hundreds of party members and supporters, many of them with ikurriñas.
Accompanied by the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, and by the heads of list for the Congress for Gipuzkoa, Álava and Bizkaia, Maribel Vaquero, Gorka Urtaran and Idoia Sagastizabal, Esteban has reiterated that the PNV is “an insurance policy for the Basque House,” based on two “clear clauses”: the defense that “self-government is not touched” and that “with Vox, nothing,” since the jeltzales set there “a clear democratic limit.”
“As we have always done, we are not going to throw ourselves into anyone’s arms and we are not going to speak from fear. Neither red nor blue carpets,” the jeltzale leader reiterated.
After stressing that the PNV forms the Basque Group because its “reference is Euskadi,” he has underlined that their priority is “what Euskadi needs, what is good for Euskadi, and what has to be achieved for Euskadi.” “That is how we are in Madrid, with our own voice, without being part of any bloc, without having to ask permission to defend our interests,” he added.
The battle for the Moncloa and the role of the PNV
Esteban criticized that the national campaign is reduced to “a battle only for the Moncloa: the PSOE fights to stay in the Moncloa; the PP, to get in; EH Bildu, to sneak into the photo of the Moncloa.” He pointed out that “on the 29th we will know the result, but what matters to me is the 30th. Who will be there when a complicated decision is reached?”.
In this context, he asked “who will be there when there is a need to discuss, agree and defend the Concierto and the Cupo.” He also questioned “Who will be there when a company needs a solution?, Who will be there when it is necessary to secure an investment?, Who will be there when it is necessary to negotiate a competence?, Who will be there when it is necessary to say that the Basque people exists, that it wants to continue being and that it wants to decide for itself?, Who will be there when Euskadi has something at stake?”
In his view, the PNV "has to be in Madrid to be the voice" of Euskadi, so that it can be "the protagonist" because "it has strength, it has industry, companies, workers, knowledge, institutions, and the capacity to move forward".
The jeltzale leader has claimed that Basque society has "a country that works and political capacity to make itself respected", not only in order to "defend itself permanently against someone, but to move forward, to achieve things, to open opportunities, so that what we decide here also has strength there, where decisions are made that affect us".
The bad or the worst and the country model
Along the same lines, the Lehendakari has called on people not to be misled about what "is at stake" in these elections, warning that in these elections "the Spanish president is not chosen", and that Basque citizens do not have to choose, as some propose, between "Sánchez, Feijóo or Abascal; between the bad or the worst".
He has stressed that it is not about choosing "between blocs, between white or black", because what is at stake for Basques is "the country model", the future and the Euskadi "that we have built and that works".
"We are betting on who is going to defend Euskadi's interests in Madrid, and that's not small potatoes, because there many things are decided that affect us day to day. On November 29 we are betting the beans of Euskadi. We don't know what sacraments it will have, but the Madrid-style cocido looks bad", he has said with irony.
Pradales has warned that, in order to "avoid intoxications or indigestions, before eating, you have to ask yourself who guarantees that Euskadi will keep functioning and who is going to defend the Casa Vasca in Madrid". "Those who will be there when things go badly are the PNV", he has emphasized.
The Lehendakari has also referred to EH Bildu to remind people that "those who for decades mocked" the fact that the PNV was sold for "a plate of lentils are swelling up with the Madrid-style cocido". "And beware the indigestion of the day after", he has warned.
In his view, "what works here is Basque cooking, the recipe of the PNV". "Whatever happens, whoever is in Moncloa, so that Euskadi keeps functioning, the best and only guarantee is the PNV.
For this reason, it has placed emphasis on the need to have a Basque Group “strong in Madrid” that can work “hand in hand” with Basque institutions on matters that directly affect everyday life: fighting inflation and “protecting people’s pockets”; promoting “more housing and faster”; ensuring orderly migration; defending employment and industrial activity; supporting self-employed people and SMEs; guaranteeing and updating pensions with the CPI, and reinforcing “greater security in the streets”.
“In Euskadi the Government and the Basque institutions are where there is what needs to be, to respond and resolve the needs and priorities of the people, building this country with a firm step, without leaving anyone behind,” she has stressed.
She has described that project as a “Basque House to live and make progress, which cares for and welcomes those who need it and which will be defended if they attack it, whoever they are,” the one that does it, “the ones of the ‘national priority’, the ones of the ‘socialist priority’ or the ones of the ‘Spanish national reconstruction’”.
“Let them know in Madrid that we are going to have them in front of us, face to face, and that they should know that we are not going to give up what corresponds to us as a people. As we have always done, putting ourselves on the line, because we are the best guarantee of a Euskadi that works and that is going to keep working,” she concluded.
A policy in the face of uncertainty
The head of the list for the Congress for Gipuzkoa, Maribel Vaquero, has presented her vote to the PNV as a “guarantee of the present and future of Euskadi in the face of so much uncertainty”. “The PNV offers Euskadi an insurance policy to protect our Basque House, a policy with two non-waivable clauses,” she emphasized.
She also reiterated that the PNV will not back “under any circumstances” a government of the PP and Vox, and she noted that, as with any policy, the one put forward by the jeltzale formation details “clear coverages, all of them integrated into its program”.
As she broke it down, the first coverage is “the defense of a life project in Euskadi”; the second, “guarantees for employment”; the third, the commitment to peace of mind, security and a cohesive society; the fourth, protection of well-being and care, with “dignified” pensions and support for the most vulnerable; and, finally, “the defense of the right to make decisions” from Euskadi about its future. “Whatever happens in Madrid, Euskadi will have its own voice to defend its interests,” she assured.
The top of the ticket for Congress for Álava, Gorka Urtaran, has placed the emphasis on the weight that the industry has in the PNV program, by recalling that "it concentrates almost a quarter of jobs and contributes 30% of our GDP," which implies "economic development, quality employment, and decent wages."
For her part, Idoia Sagastizabal, a candidate for Congress for Bizkaia, has insisted on the advisability of a "strong" Basque Group in Madrid, since matters such as wages or pensions "are lived here, but decided in Madrid."
She has underlined that now housing policies are set in the capital of the State "because some have opened a door so that the State can decide the policies to apply." "It is precisely through that door by which the setback policies of the far right can enter now," she has warned.