Jorge Azcón is now the new president of Aragon. Thanks to the government pact signed with Vox and, although less so, to what he added in extremis with the only deputy of the Aragonese Party (PAR), the former mayor of Zaragoza got the position of command of the Aragonese community yesterday. His victory, by an absolute majority (36 votes in favor against 31 against), adds one more autonomy to the list of communities that the PP wrested from the Socialists on 28-M with the support of Vox (Community Valenciana, Extremadura and the Balearic Islands ), with Murcia now as the last unknown.
Azcón never hid that his desire was to rule alone. He said it both actively and passively, with recommendations to Vox to “mature more in the opposition” and attempts to explore other ways of government with the PAR and Terol Existeix. But arithmetic is stubborn, and that is why he needed the cooperation of the ultra-right, who made it clear to him that he did not go through the addressee: either he was part of the executive or he voted against and forced new elections.
Last week, their pressure bore fruit with the signing of a government pact between the two parties – without Azcón’s presence, by the way – which includes a substantial part of the ideological decalogue of the ultra-right, in addition to granting a vice presidency and two ministries.
In view of the opposition’s criticism, Azcón defended the “legitimacy” of this coalition. It is “the only possible government” given the result of the polls, he said, especially because of the PSOE’s no to his request to abstain and facilitate a solo government. “There is no more stable government than the one that will be voted on in this chamber today”, he added at the second and last investiture session.
The popular leader, who will formally assume the position today, showed off his harmony with Vox despite the differences that separate them. Among the measures that both defend n, they cited the tax reduction -reduction of personal income tax and inheritance and property taxes-, the implementation of active policies to attract companies, more public-private collaboration in health matters, direct aid to farmers or open a commission of inquiry into the “multiple irregularities” committed during the previous legislature regarding the implementation of renewable energies.
More controversial are other points where ideology gains maximum weight. This is the case of the repeal of the Democratic Memory law and the reform of the trans-autonomous law, the elimination of the 2030 Agenda Commissioner or the general directorate of Linguistic Policy and the extreme defense of the “freedom” of parents when choosing their children’s education.
Many are also concerned about the lack of an express refusal in the transfer agreement despite the fact that the PP rejects it. The “fundamental threat” to the Ebro is “the claims of Junts per Catalunya” which, in the event of an agreement with Pedro Sánchez, “claims the management of the Catalan section” of the river, the popular said yesterday.
As could be expected, criticism rained down on him from the opposition. The PSOE criticizes him for a government pact that he describes as “retrograde, sectarian, privatizing and elitist” and supposes “a return to the political cavern”. Its spokeswoman, Mayte Perez, estimated at 200 million euros the amount that the community will no longer collect with the announced tax reductions and attacked the “ideologicalization” of the education system, the privatization of healthcare and “a step backwards from two centuries” in social policy.
Nor did they save the rest of the formations from being disqualified. The Chunta accused him of putting a “Trojan horse” full of “reactionary, anti-system and uncompromising” ideology into the executive. We can, to allow the entry of forces that seek the end of regional self-government and deny “the pillars of democracy”, while IU called the common agenda “retrograde, liberticidal and negationist”.
Azcón reprimanded everyone for their attempts to impose “the story of fear” and that “dark times” are coming. The populist emphasized that he does not seek to privatize services – although he does seek greater public-private collaboration – and that under his command there will be no censorship nor will the policies to protect women against male violence be weakened. “I don’t see the PP repealing any law that has to do with gender violence”, he declared.
After the inauguration, the composition of the new government will be announced on Saturday. There will be ten ministries and two will fall to the far right – Agriculture and Territorial Development – ??but with fewer powers than the last legislature. For its part, the PAR, a formation that yesterday the opposition accused of “selling its soul to the devil”, gets five strategic general directions under the cloak of the PP.
