The president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, says that “a future Government agreement” between EH Bildu and PSE in the Basque Country “is not on the table,” and emphasizes that what the socialists are seeking is “to lead more institutions and not to co-govern them with the PNV.”
In an interview he gave to the newspaper 'El Correo,' reported by Europa Press, and in light of the polls that place EH Bildu as a possible most-voted force in the Basque Country in some general elections, Sánchez stresses that the PSOE maintains “a strategic understanding with the Basque Nationalist Party,” which, in his view, “is being good for the Basque Country and also for Spain.”
Regarding his relationship with EH Bildu, he explains that in Parliament they have always tried “to put together majorities in favor of policies that benefit people,” which, he details, translates into “revaluing pensions, increasing scholarships, or making a firm commitment to vocational training.” “Parliament is what it is; it is the citizens who decide, and the key is to craft understanding policies in favor of people,” he stresses.
In this context, Sánchez insists that a hypothetical PSE-EE executive with EH Bildu in the next regional legislature “is not on the table.” He recalls that “we have a strategic alliance with the PNV, which is not only at the level of coalition government in the Basque Country, but also in the provincial councils and in a large majority of town councils,” and emphasizes that the PSOE’s priority is “to lead more institutions and not to co-govern them with the Basque Nationalist Party.”
General elections and relationship with PP and Vox
Regarding the general elections of November 29, Sánchez advances that he will try to reach pacts “with all parliamentary groups to form a majority” and warns that “there is no society, also not the Spanish one, that can move forward by reversing course.” In this sense, he reproaches that “the only thing we have heard from the PP and Vox is to repeal, cut, and dismantle.”
The leader of the executive aims to form “a broader and progressive majority to go further and sooner in terms of social progress.” He adds that “what I am stating is my respect for whatever result comes out of the ballot boxes on next November 29. Here, to put it in names and surnames, we are talking about whether the next deputy prime minister of the Government continues to be Carlos Cuerpo or is Santiago Abascal.”
Regarding the demoscopic forecasts for Vox, it considers that "the political and media right" has contributed "to whitewash the far right". In his view, "there is an error on the part of the Partido Popular in not only speaking like Vox, insulting like Vox, but in proposing cuts like Vox".
Along these lines, he recalls that "the one who even says, the head of Vox, that they have to hang me by the feet. The one who threatens the headquarters of the Partido Socialista, the headquarters of Ferraz in which we are doing this interview, by an fascist organization like Núcleo Nacional, and that it has not involved the reproach or the criticism or the condemnation by the Partido Popular and by Vox, is to open the doors and slide down a very dangerous slope".
Succession and political future
Asked whether the next legislature will serve to prepare his replacement at the head of the PSOE and of the Government, Sánchez replies that "what is important is that whoever is going to succeed me will be decided by the grassroots membership with the primaries, but for that there is time".
After defending that Spain requires "four more years of progress to complete and consolidate" the transformations undertaken, he holds that "the best antidote against regression is mobilization". He assures that "and since there is going to be a historic mobilization, I think there will also be a historic comeback of progressive Spain against the regression represented by Feijóo and Abascal".
General strike for housing and housing policy
In relation to last Wednesday's general strike for decent housing, Sánchez says that he interprets it as "a wake-up call to all institutions, that we have to do much more in less time to resolve the main problem of our citizens, probably the one that largely explains, up to 60%, the problem of inequality in our country".
Therefore, he expresses his "utmost respect for a constitutional right, which is the right to strike" and understands that it was convened "not against anyone, but in favor of the greatest involvement of institutions in the real problem of access to housing". On this point, he criticizes the opposition: "I have heard the head of the opposition say that this general strike was a fiasco, and what is really a fiasco is calling the unions mafia, trash, as the Partido Popular and Vox have done".
When asked about the 'promise' in the 2023 campaign of 184,000 affordable rental homes, the head of the Government emphasizes that "right now, more than 80,000 are already built and delivered, and the other 100,000 that remain to meet that commitment are in the process of being built, and we expect that the keys can be delivered to the new tenants in the coming years". He adds that, during his term, "around a million homes" have been built, "of which 13% have been protected housing, affordable housing".
As for the pending challenges, he explains that "we need, and that is the discrepancy that I have with the left, on my left, to amend the land law to reduce bureaucratic procedures and, therefore, continue building at a faster pace. But we also have to regulate aspects that today, unfortunately, many autonomous communities governed by the Partido Popular and Vox refuse to apply within what the state housing law represents," he concludes.