The campaign for the elections to the Basque Parliament on the 21st is turning out to be exceptionally atypical, both because of the little attention it receives and because of the issues that center the debate. If a few years ago the territorial issue or the debate around the consequences of terrorism largely focused the campaign, this time the main issues are fundamentally the situation of the Basque Health System-Osakidetza or the price of housing. As the campaign approaches its midpoint, furthermore, the exchanges of statements regarding the post-electoral pacts gain strength.
This Wednesday marks five days since the electoral campaign officially began and the general feeling is that it has not fully engaged Basque society. The holiday period linked to Holy Week and, in the case of many families, Easter conditioned the end of the pre-campaign and the official start of the campaign.
During the weekend, especially in Bizkaia, a sporting event such as the Copa del Rey final has captured attention, far above the political news linked to the campaign and with the addition that Athletic’s victory will extend the celebrations until Thursday, when the barge will sail through the Bilbao estuary. This is the big topic of conversation in Bizkaia – which concentrates half of the population in Euskadi -, far above the exchanges of statements linked to the proximity of the elections on the 21st.
Furthermore, the death of José Antonio Ardanza, Lehendakari between 1985 and 1999, has focused much of the political information during this start of the week, leaving the news of the electoral campaign in the background.
The debate organized by TVE this Tuesday has also failed to attract attention to the electoral struggle, since it was decaffeinated when the two candidates with the most chances of winning did not attend: Imanol Pradales (PNV) and Pello Otxandiano (EH Bildu). Both will meet for the first time in the debate in Basque organized by ETB.
In this context, the parties try to attract attention to their proposals, although what is really focusing the debate in the last hours has to do above all with what will happen from the day after the elections with the post-electoral pacts.
At this point, everyone is looking at the PSE, which according to all surveys will have the key to governability (with between 10 and 12 seats, compared to PNV and EH Bildu, which would move around 28-29 seats).
The socialist candidate for lehendakari, Eneko Andueza, has had enough of saying that he will not make the head of the EH Bildu list, Pello Otxandiano, lehendakari. However, from the PNV they say that the last word on the matter will be Pedro Sánchez, who could well, according to what they denounce, agree with the nationalist coalition and plot a ‘pamplonada’ (a term coined by Imanol Pradales).
Andueza, meanwhile, responds by pointing out that it is the Jeltzales who could be thinking about a pact with the Abertzale coalition, an argument that he already put forward this week in an interview with La Vanguardia.
EH Bildu, finally, embraces the concept of “cooperation” and gives the example of Pamplona, ??where after the motion of censure in December it governs together with Geroa Bai and the representatives of Contigo-Zurekin, although with the external support of the socialists.
The Abertzale coalition proposes that, if it wins seats, it be allowed to govern in a “cooperative” way, reaching agreements with PNV, PSE and, if it achieves representation, also with the representatives of Podemos and Sumar.
In this scenario, the PP longs for the only scenario that would not leave it out of the game: a minority government between the PNV and the PSE in which they would be the main alternative to move forward with governability.
