The former prime minister Mariano Rajoy has said this Saturday in Gandia (Valencia) that the PP is the only political option with real capacity to drive a change in the direction of the country, and has raised the following question: "Does anyone come to mind that there is someone who has any possibility, besides Núñez Feijóo, of taking on the Presidency of the Government? No. It is simply and plainly impossible, because they all say so and because people have wanted to support it."
In the same address, he has insisted that the PP "is not a hinge party and it is not there to support anyone with five votes or with ten or with 15; it is a government party; it is not something that shows up today and disappears tomorrow as has happened with UpyD, Podemos, Ciudadanos and we will see what happens in the future".
Rajoy took part in a rally in Gandia backed by the mayor of Valencia and head of the list to the Congress, María José Catalá, and by number one to the Senate for Valencia, Susana Camarero, along with other party officials.
The former head of the Executive has recalled that the PP has already assumed the responsibility of governing Spain in different stages and has emphasized that for the 29N "we have the best leader" and "the best candidates" who, in his view, are going to "raise the level of Parliament," although he has qualified: "All by itself, no matter how smart you are, few things can be done here."
In this context, he has warned: "On November 29 nobody can play dumb or go on vacation, because these are the most important elections in Spanish democratic history since 1978; here there is no longer any discussion of government issues that are open to opinion; here we are talking about the Spanish Constitution and Spanish democracy and those are very serious matters."
Rajoy has stressed that Spain "cannot continue for four more years" in the current situation because "you cannot put up with it," and for that reason he has called for a political change that he considers "necessary, essential and above all urgent."
He has underscored that this shift can only be embodied by the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whom he has described as "a serious man, capable, who knows what he is talking about, who has governed for many years in Galicia, who has management experience and who wants to put an end to the spectacle politics that we are experiencing in recent times and to devote himself to governing." "Parliament as God commands and Government as God commands. That is what the Partido Popular offers," he added.
In his view, in recent years there have been "no adjectives to explain what has happened in Spain". "They ran out", he pointed out, because "we have lived through the darkest period of Spain's recent democratic history, the worst". He also noted that the latest chapter has been the general strike, which "has served for nothing".
Against that backdrop, he has argued that the country needs above all to "recover the lost normality; sanity, good sense, common sense" and to have a "predictable government, that does sensible things and that "doesn't make mistakes".
Therefore, he has listed as priorities for the next four years, first, to change the government on 29N to modify "the sum of the ambition of a certain gentleman" –referring to Pedro Sánchez without naming him– who, he said, has not won the elections and has governed "with separatists, pro-ETA and all the left-wing extremists that exist in our country".
Second, he has demanded "forming a government that is in a position to govern, that presents a program when it asks parliamentarians for their vote in the investiture session, that is for four years and that it be carried out calmly"; third, "recover the quality of democracy", which he has stressed is based on "values and is principles"; and, fourth, "put an end to polarization and to division among Spaniards".
Rajoy has explained that democracy consists in "respecting the rights of others, respecting the rule of law, the primacy of law, the separation of powers and the independence of judges" and he has asked himself whether someone "had occurred to them that an operation could be organized like the one we have lived through in Badajoz, where a judge, by the fact of carrying out her function, was threatened with removing her".
He has also emphasized that in Spain, historically, major pacts have been reached such as the Constitution, the accession to the European Union, incorporation into the euro, foreign policy, the statutes of autonomy, or the succession to the Crown, and he has proclaimed: "A president of a government belongs to all Spanish people and not only to those who vote for him. and you have to try to add up and not divide".
As a fifth priority, he has called for a "government that carries out its function, which is to govern" against a way of doing politics based on "a lot of tweets, a lot of propaganda, a lot of demonstrations against the opposition, including a general strike, a lot of television, and a lot of storytelling".
In his review of the management of the current Executive, he has assured that in eight years no progress has been made in housing matters and that "now they intend, in 48 hours, with a couple of decrees, to do what they didn’t do in 8 years". He has also referred to problems in the rail network and, as for immigration, he has emphasized: "We are in favor of legal immigration but we cannot be in favor of illegal immigration, among other things, because it is illegal and a government cannot sponsor illegality."
He has concluded that "The Partido Popular is the only party that at this time is in a position for a political change to occur in Spain because it is a center-right, moderate and sensible party. It is in all municipalities in Spain, it has principles and values that are recognized by everyone; we are with the Spanish Constitution, freedoms, rights, the autonomous state". And he has referred to other formations: "There is someone who is going around saying that he is going to suppress the autonomous communities... he will explain to the rest of us how that is done".
Defense of the self-employed and economic criticism
In his turn, María José Catalá has directed herself especially to self-employed workers, to whom she has thanked them for "getting up every morning to pull down the shutter" and "to fight for this country of workers". "If I am in politics precisely it is because of people like you", she has stated, recalling that she is the daughter of two self-employed people and that she knows first-hand their problems and "what it is like to be indignant about everything you see in Spanish politics: corruption, bribes, prostitution in the ministries, scandal after scandal".
Catalá has also mentioned the situation facing the island of El Hierro, in a context in which the migration crisis in Ceuta continues; the strike by train drivers and the general strike "against the opposition"; as well as the rising cost of the grocery basket, which "has gone up by more than 40%", and the increase in the price of electricity and fuel.
At a time when there is "a lot of talk about pensions", she has underlined that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is "the only president of the Spanish government who froze pensions in the year 2010" while the former president Rajoy "fought so that they wouldn’t bail out Spain, because if they did, pensions for pensioners would drop between 20% and 30%".
The Popular leader has also dedicated a few words to the general secretary of the PSPV and minister, Diana Morant, whom she has criticized for the "insults" to the mayor of Elche: "Look, Diana, when you are right, one, you don't need to shout, two, you don't need to offend, and three, you don't need to insult." "Pablo Ruz is freer, more decent, and works with much more pride than what you and yours will do for all your lives. All your life," she said.
On housing matters, she has reiterated her criticisms of the central Government because, through Casa 47, it has only made available an affordable rental home for València. "Mr. Sánchez intends to solve the housing problem in Valencia with a home," she censured, to defend that Spain "needs someone decent, serious, rigorous, who lowers taxes for the self-employed, for families, who brings the VAT on basic products down to zero, who brings down electricity or fuel prices."