The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has assessed this Monday, after the announcement by the head of the Spanish Executive, Pedro Sánchez, to call general elections for the next November 29, that "it was about time to give a voice to the Spaniards" because there was "no other way" than that. He emphasized that these elections are "very important" as they are about "saving and protecting" democracy, and insisted that there should be "no fear of alternation" in Spain.
At the beginning of his speech at the dialogue-meeting Diálogos Sur, organized by the Diario Sur in Málaga, Juanma Moreno highlighted that in the elections on November 29, not only will the "present and future of our country" be decided, but also the ways and styles of doing politics and governing. In his opinion, "we are going to say much more than who governs, but how it is governed, from what way it is governed and what democratic quality we want our political system to have".
Moreno has criticized the way Sánchez has communicated the electoral call: "He has started the electoral campaign with a rally". He recalled that when he announced the Andalusian elections last May, it did not "cross his mind to make some of the attacks and some of the statements that Sánchez has made".
"I have been surprised, although I am increasingly less surprised, that Mr. Sánchez has started the campaign with a rally in which he has blamed absolutely everyone for the problems that Spain has, starting with the autonomous communities themselves," said Juanma Moreno, who lamented that, on the contrary, the president of the Government does not attribute any "of the problems" of the country to himself.
In this line, he stated that, "without a doubt, the person responsible for the mess, and I have to say it this way, the mess in which, unfortunately, our country is situated, of confrontation, of polarization, of lack of understanding, of low democratic quality, of occupation of the institutions or of distrust of the citizens, without a doubt is him". He added that it is "a hallmark" that Sánchez, "as he cannot resolve the mess in Spain, calls elections blaming everyone for the mess".
According to his criteria, Sánchez has finally been forced to admit "what is evident," that he lacked a sufficient parliamentary and social majority, which has blocked the action of the Executive and has led to living "absolutely perplexing situations, such as the fact that no General State Budgets (PGE) have been presented in this legislature."
Juanma Moreno has assured that he is convinced that Sánchez "does not want elections, he has never wanted them and he is terrified of elections." He emphasized that the elections on November 29 are the direct consequence "of the weakness" of the president and his Government.
In his opinion, "the reality is that Mr. Sánchez has neither had a progressive parliamentary majority, nor has he had a social majority of support, nor has he had a political project for Spain," and he reiterated that these elections "are going to be very important" because they will seek to "save and protect democracy" and the "institutional quality of our country." It would be, he said, "to have a normal, homologated democracy, or a low-quality democracy."
He argued that the decision to set the date for the elections on November 29, besides responding to a "defeat after defeat," has "much to do" with the "judicial situation" that "surrounds" him: the judicial situation of his wife and the former president of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero; a possible "indictment" of the PSOE for "illegal financing in the coming weeks," and the investigation "of the sewers through Mrs. Leire (Díez), the supposed famous plumber."
"All this is what surrounds President Sánchez, who has neither a parliamentary majority, nor a social majority, nor policies, and on top of that has a tremendously complex judicial agenda," said Juanma Moreno, who has now called on political parties to "convince, inspire, and generate hope around November 29."
In this regard, he has asked to leave behind the strategy of fear: "More than instilling fear, as Sánchez has been doing for eight years, by introducing an element of fear, permanently, that they are the good ones and the rest, those who do not agree with him, are all very bad, what we need is to put a project on the table that regenerates public life, which is needed after so much corruption, that regenerates ethics and values, and that generates a new project."
For Moreno, "there is no need to be afraid of alternation": "It is the moment for Spain, now more than ever, for that democratic alternation to prevail so that another political project, other teams, other ways of governing, and other styles of governing lead this country to the path of coexistence, which has been lost a lot, of common sense and prosperity."
Likewise, the president of the Junta has urged the Andalusians to convey to the polls their "tiredness" over the "mistreatment" of investors by the government of Pedro Sánchez. "The time has come for us to express our exhaustion and our tiredness through the vote," indicated Juanma Moreno, who warned that the "mistreatment" of the most populated community, the most loyal, and the third economy of Spain cannot be tolerated. "You cannot be stepping on the neck in terms of investment," he concluded.