“I want to be president of the Catalans”. The statement is from Alberto Núñez Feijóo, repeated twice, in Seville, on this first day of the campaign, when he was asked what his policy towards Catalonia will be if he is elected Prime Minister after the July 23 elections. “I want to be president of the government and I believe that I can be it. It is my ambition,” he said.
The president of the PP, if he is president, would speak to Catalonia about investments, employment, competitiveness, a productive economy, the use of public resources, and not lowering the sentences for corrupt politicians.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo will also speak to the Catalans about taxes, because the Catalans, he stressed, are “those who pay the most taxes.” As an example, the Wealth Tax, which he means for the Catalans, he said, 650 million euros, while in Madrid it means 900 million euros saved for the people of Madrid, since it is subsidized at 99%.
Another example, Andalusia, and recalled that when the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, “in the exercise of his powers” decided to do what Madrid and subsidize the Wealth Tax, “the Government acted against the fiscal autonomy of Andalusia and imposed a Heritage Tax for all Spaniards”, in reference to the so-called Tax on great fortunes.
Regarding the relations between the President of the Government and Pere Aragonès, he stressed that “I will try to understand myself with the President of the Generalitat, whoever he is”, at the same time that he will try, starting with this electoral campaign “for the PP to recover the leading role that it never should have lose”. Feijóo considers that it has already begun to do so, because the Pp has become the second force in the municipality of Lleida, it obtained 56% of the votes in Badalona, ??it has recovered the Castelldefels town hall, and in Barcelona it has made the decision to give their votes for the PSC candidate, for being a constitutionalist, to prevent the City Council from being in the hands of the independentistas. And in exchange for nothing, not even thanks, because he said, he has not received a thank you call.
Regarding the bilateral commission that has presided over the relations between Pedro Sánchez and Pere Aragonés, as a way of relating Catalonia with the state, he stressed that having been president of the Xunta de Galicia, makes him aware that on many occasions bilateral relations are necessary. For this reason, he assured that the Conferences of Presidents are important, but that they affect the state and Catalan administrations “they must be solved bilaterally.” However, “what affects everyone must be decided together, and what affects the two administrations, bilaterally.”
Alberto Núñez Feijóo was more specific, and fought against the regional financing system still in force, which was agreed, he said, bilaterally, between the tripartite government that existed in Catalonia at the time and the government of Rodríguez Zapatero. And the rest of the communities, he among others, could not do or say anything, “if you want it, take it and if not, leave it.” That, in his opinion, cannot happen.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo began this morning, the campaign itself, outlining his program and making offers of agreements if he is president of the Government, in an act in Seville organized by Nueva Economía Forum, and in the company of the president of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, whose model , including its absolute majority, is the benchmark for the president of the PP, along with Madrid and Galicia.
The popular leader, who above all called for a vote, “that they do not stay at home, despite the extravagance of the Prime Minister to call elections in the second half of July”, offered six state pacts, with the commitment to transfer them to the other parties if he becomes president of the Government, starting with the main opposition party. There are six state pacts on matters that, in the opinion of the president of the PP, are of special importance for the country and for the Spanish people.
The subjects would be public health, education, young people, European funds, the “demographic tragedy” and the environment, with special reference to water policy, due to its extraordinary importance, especially in a situation of drought like the current one.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo intends, for example, to “shield public health” and ensure the sustainability of the health system, since it represents 40% of their budget for the autonomous communities. He also wants a “stable pact for educational quality”, of which he only points out one element: “Passing cannot be the same as failing”. A pact for young people, because “we have to reveal ourselves to the possibility that young people live worse than their parents.”
It also seeks a state agreement “to take advantage of European funds”, so that they reach the real economy and their management is more agile; and another pact to “respond to the democratic tragedy.” In this regard, an agreement on conciliation is basic, for the PP. The same as a water policy that guarantees “water for all”, as the slogan says, embodied in a great pact on the environment.
