The Abertzale coalition EH Bildu is “prepared” for three hypotheses as of July 23: the continuity of a progressive executive, a possible “ultracentrist government” of the PP and, finally, a hypothetical government of PP and Vox, an option that it considers probable, since “they are agreeing where possible”. The general coordinator of this formation, Arnaldo Otegi, considers that this last possibility “would manufacture mass independence supporters.”
The leader of EH Bildu has offered a talk on the formation’s social network channels to analyze “the new political cycle” that, from his point of view, opens after the coalition achieved its best historical results on May 28 , both in the Basque Autonomous Community and in Navarre.
Otegi has stopped to analyze the possibilities that can be opened from the general elections on July 23 and that is where he has entered into the possible consequences that a government of Alberto Núñez Feijóo could have, pointing out that the independence movement could come out stronger.
“The PP says that for us there is a government that is a bargain, but I am absolutely convinced that a PP-Vox government would manufacture mass separatists in Catalonia and the Basque Country. People will not understand that we are governed by people who want to return us 40 years ago with political positions that we do not share, violating social rights or with people who deny gender violence. People who defend cultural values ??with which this country has absolutely nothing to do will not understand ”, he pointed out.
The leader of EH Bildu thus alluded to the scant weight that PP and Vox have in Euskadi, where the sum of both forces has not reached 10% of the votes in the municipal elections, and in Navarra, where they have reached 11, 6% of the support in the elections to the Foral Parliament, in contrast to the possibilities they have of reaching the Government of Spain as of July 23.
This contrast promises to become one of the axes of the argumentation of the pro-independence left, as can be intuited from Otegi’s statements: “How long are we Basques going to be governed from Madrid by political forces that are an immense minority in our country? Because?”.
“Why are we going to support a PP and Vox government if the Basques, in our freely and democratically adopted decisions, say that these political options are absolutely minority? That is the sovereignty debate, not the flags. Based on which PP and Vox can decide what my grandsons and granddaughters study here, in the Basque Country, when they are an absolute political minority? That is why we are pro-sovereignty and pro-independence, because we have a relationship of forces in the country that allows us to create a much better, much more modern country, with avant-garde policies, with egalitarian policies. That is why we claim independence ”, he pointed out.
The leader of EH Bildu has added that a possible government of PP and Vox would be substantiated by the implementation of a “broad reactionary agenda” and a “cutting of conquered rights”, as well as the possibility of “illegalizing political parties”. In any case, he has indicated that he wants to avoid a message of “fear”, since “they will not be able to do everything”, and has called for “rebellion” in the face of this possible scenario.
Otegi’s words about the impact of a possible PP government with Vox put on the table a hypothesis on which the Abertzale coalition has been working for years. Basically, they consider that an executive of this nature would force them to modify their policy in recent years, especially with regard to the Congress of Deputies, although it could mean a strengthening of pro-sovereignty positions and an acceleration of a pro-sovereignty process. . An incentive to look for a possible train crash with the government of Spain.
In words used recurrently by Otegi, it would be something like the confirmation that Spain “cannot be reformed”, an idea that ultimately seeks to broaden the base of the independence movement by nourishing it with voters who have historically positioned themselves in possibilist positions.
From EH Bildu they point out, in public and in private, that their option is to give continuity to a government of a progressive nature that allows them to implement the pragmatic turn that they have led in recent years. However, that other hypothesis, that of a PP and Vox government, is very present on his horizon and is even the favorite of the voices most critical of the strategy of the nationalist coalition in recent years.
