The president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, defended this Wednesday his decision to keep the pre-campaign event scheduled in Valladolid despite the railway accident in Urda (Toledo), which has led other political formations and institutions to suspend their activity. The leader has rejected the idea that mourning for the victims implies renouncing political criticism and has accused the Government of Pedro Sánchez of seeking to silence the opposition. "We are not going to accept a mourning that muzzles us when Spaniards die", he warned before those attending.
The meeting began with the audience standing singing "La muerte no es el final" and with Abascal as the only speaker. The Vox leader acknowledged that the event could not take place under the usual circumstances because of the gravity of the tragedy, although he insisted that his formation will continue with political activity over the next few days.
"We are in mourning like the rest of decent Spaniards", he stated after expressing his condolences to the relatives of the deceased. However, he defended that keeping the event constitutes a way of expressing his party's outrage at the management of the Executive, to which he attributed political responsibilities for the state of the railway infrastructures.
Abascal rejects suspending the campaign and claims the right to criticize the Government
Vox's decision to hold its event in Valladolid contrasts with the suspension of activities announced by other formations after the accident, on a day in which the Government of Spain has decreed three days of official mourning.
Abascal explained that his party has not canceled the meeting because it considers that it has the "duty to defend Spaniards" against the actions of the Executive. "They have not suspended the events because we are working", he pointed out, before assuring that they will not change that position because of the pressure they may receive.
"Let no one count on the silence of Vox under any circumstances", the leader proclaimed, rejecting the idea that political representatives should limit themselves to expressing their condolences without questioning government decisions.
The president of Vox also announced his adherence to the minute of silence called this Wednesday in the Plaza Mayor of Valladolid, an initiative of tribute to the victims that he wanted to make compatible with the holding of the electoral event.
Vox politically holds the Executive responsible for the Urda accident
During his intervention, Abascal has directed much of his criticism against the central Government, which he has accused of neglecting railway infrastructure while allocating public resources to other purposes.
The leader has linked the Urda accident with the one that occurred months ago in Adamuz (Córdoba) and has assured that both episodes reflect, in his view, the consequences of the Executive's management.
"This has not happened by chance", he has stated, before adding that "corruption kills and climate fanaticism also kills", two accusations with which he has tried to establish a relationship between the Government's political decisions and the tragedies recorded in Spain.
Abascal has also mentioned the electrical blackout and the floods among the episodes for which he politically holds the Executive responsible, although the specific causes of the Urda railway accident continue to be the subject of investigation and definitive responsibilities have not been established.
"What happened could have been avoided", the Vox leader has assured, who has questioned the explanations offered so far by the Ministry of Transport.
Criticisms of Óscar Puente and call for the November 29 elections
The president of Vox has also directed his reproaches against the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, whom he has criticized for his previous comments about Renfe and for his activity on social networks after the accident became known.
Abascal has questioned that the minister continued publishing messages against the opposition during a day marked by tragedy and has expressed his distrust toward the explanations that the Government may offer about the causes of the incident.
"We are here to say that we do not believe you at all", he has stated before those attending, insisting that his party will not renounce demanding political responsibilities.
The leader has also taken advantage of his intervention to refer to the general elections next November 29, an appointment for which he has called for a change of Government and in which Vox intends to turn the management of infrastructure and emergencies into one of the issues of political confrontation.
His statements come while investigations into the Urda accident continue and on a day of institutional mourning in which most of the parties have opted to suspend or reduce their public activities.