The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, says that the possibility of a joint Executive with Vox if it reaches La Moncloa after the next general elections is not in his hands, while insisting that his aim is to govern alone with broad backing in both the Congress and the Senate.
"Making or not making a Government coalition does not depend on me. I have very clear what I want, my political offer. The times I have spoken with the leader of Vox, in the conversation he never brought up anything about state or non-state ministries, of first or second rank. We have never talked about that," he said in an interview with 'El País', reported by Europa Press.
Feijóo says he has "very clear" that, in his view, the most suitable option for Spain is a PP Government alone "to do what has to be done. It has to be done well and quickly; Spain needs a president who has in the Cortes a sufficient majority to govern alone," he emphasized.
When asked whether he prefers Vox to be left out of the Council of Ministers before integrating it into a shared cabinet, the People’s Party leader reiterated that his goal is "to have a sufficient majority in the Congress and in the Senate and to have parliamentary support agreements with the third political force, which is Vox. Is it impossible for that circumstance to occur? In my opinion, no," he said.
"This legislature was born dead; it was born with a Government that lost the elections and that was built with the surrender of the Penal Code, with the amnesty and with a hooded pact with Bildu. These have been three years of inaction, of lack of Budgets. All of this has been very long," he said.
In this vein, he considers that the PP is growing "from less to more" during the campaign, while the head of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez, would be managing to "neutralize all the left and absorb it."
Pacts with Vox
Regarding the agreements sealed with Vox in the Senate and in different autonomous communities, Feijóo has defended that the legitimacy of political parties is granted by the ballot boxes and has pointed out that Santiago Abascal’s party is currently the third force at the national level. "Even in vote transfers, there are people who voted for the PSOE and who say they are going to vote for Vox. I don’t know if it’s 3%, 4% or 5%," he said.
On the so-called national priority that Vox is claiming, he has pointed out that the PP has already reached an agreement on its content, although he уточняет that it does not match the original wording of Abascal’s party. "National priority is based on roots, not on nationality, and on respect for the Constitution and for European treaties; nothing can be agreed outside the Constitution and outside treaties," he explained.
In the same way, he defended that "all people who reside legally in Spain must have public healthcare" and that people in an irregular administrative situation must have "basic benefits in the area of public health, in the area of urgent care, of vital emergency."
Abortion, sexist violence, and culture
As for abortion, Feijóo argues that minors aged 16 and 17 should inform their parents if they decide to terminate their pregnancy, although he specifies that his position refers to the "knowledge" and not to the parents’ permission. "Why does a minor aged 16 not have to give any information to her parents? I spoke with feminist associations that have studied this issue and they told me that, in cases of incest or of family abuse, in no case can it be communicated to the parents. But in the rest it is a debate that can be had," he said.
The PP leader adds that, when a woman chooses to voluntarily end her pregnancy within the legal time limits, she must receive appropriate medical care. "We must guarantee good healthcare services for women who want to end their pregnancy and also help women who have doubts because they think they are not economically able to bring up their daughter or their son," he emphasized.
Likewise, he opts for the use of the term "sexist violence" rather than intrafamily violence. "There are a lot of people in cemeteries who have been murdered by the hands of their husbands, of their partners, of their ex-partners. There are thousands of orphans," he said, before taking aim at the Government’s actions in this area: "The anti-abuse bracelets have not worked, the law of only yes has been a blunder," he criticized.
Regarding public funding for film productions, questioned in Castilla y León by Vox when they consider there to be supposed “ideological indoctrination,” Feijóo argues that “culture must be assertive, free,” although he considers it acceptable to bar the use of public funds for “sectarian, partisan and exclusionary ideological approaches.”
“If someone wants to make a film about ETA’s years of lead, certain public administrations will never help them. That is censorship. And if the same is done on the other side, it will also be,” he has added.
Housing, defense and corruption
In the area of housing, he has reiterated that he will repeal the decrees promoted by the current Executive because, as he claims, they harm both tenants and owners. “No change of opinion; I have voted against. The decrees harm both tenants and owners. And I refer to the facts. There is not a single media outlet that has not published that the number of rental homes is being reduced, with greater or lesser intensity,” he has argued.
Regarding defense spending, he has avoided taking on the goal of 5% of GDP proposed by former U.S. president Donald Trump and has moved forward that first he will order an audit of public accounts. “If I can’t spend 3.5%, I will have to postpone those decisions, because I’m not going to spend what I don’t have and I’m not going to cut essential public services,” he has said.
Finally, Feijóo has asserted his record in response to questions about corruption cases that have affected the PP and has underlined that, during his 14 years in different executives, he has not had “a single corruption case.” “If I catch someone, I take them down; I take them down that morning,” he has concluded.