Vox’s risqué statements attacking consensuses such as the danger of climate change or the seriousness of gender violence are contaminating the Valencian political scene. The refusal of the Minister of Justice and the Interior, Elisa Nuñez, to describe Francisco Franco in an interview in Las Provincias and refer to the dictator as a simple “historical figure” has once again shaken the regional political arena with requests for resignation by the left that considers this type of response “incompatible” with a position of representation in the Valencian executive.
Nuñez’s words put the popular parties in a difficult situation, even more so after they had to give in to the claims of their partners with the controversial Concord Law. However, the PP ignores these types of comments and endorses the words of President Carlos Mazón in parliament who did not hesitate to call Franco a dictator and his dictatorship regime. In the Presidency they make it clear that “everyone’s opinion is very respectable”, but that the head of the Consell already said his opinion in Les Corts.
The truth is that these types of comments generate discomfort in popular leaders who have to use their statements to distance themselves from the denialist discourse of their partners instead of taking advantage of the presence of the media to sell the management of the autonomous government.
Thus, and despite the fact that yesterday the PSPV wanted to begin to see cracks in the evident ideological discrepancy of the members of the Consell, the truth is that no one questions the stability of the Valencian executive. The PP knows that it needs Vox to continue governing and Abascal’s party is aware that it has a platform in the regional governments to launch its electoral messages.
Yesterday, the Ombudsman of the PP in the Valencian Courts, Miguel Barrachina, reiterated to journalists that “Valencians can be confident and certain that the different opinions are not going to harm in any way the behavior of a government” that, he argued, “is faithfully fulfilling their electoral commitments in terms of educational freedom, tax reduction and also the elimination of political spending.”
Barrachina recalled that PP and Vox are “distinct and different” parties and insisted that the position of the ‘popular’ is that “Franco was a dictator and Francoism, a period of dictatorship.”
Vox, after the commotion of its minister’s statements, preferred not to respond to the media. Of course, he released a press release in which he urged the Government of Spain to include in the judicial statistics that are prepared and published on the subject of so-called ‘gender violence’, the nationality of the perpetrators.
The proposal was launched by the spokesperson for the training in Les Corts, José María Llanos, who last weekend attacked the Trobades d’Escola Valenciana and described its promoters as “traitors to the Valencian identity.” A meeting in which not only was the president of the Provincial Council of Valencia, Vicent Mompó (of the PP) present, but also took the floor, defending that the best way to defend and promote Valencian is to “use it, each one his way.” This comment on networks received verbal blows from the right and the left.
These outbursts have not been the only ones from Vox in recent days. On Friday night, the Councilor for Agriculture and Entrepreneurship of the Valencia City Council, Cecilía Herrero, responded to the Secretary of Anti-Racism of Podemos, Serigne Mbayé, with a derogatory: “You need to go back to your country.” The opposition called again, without success, for his dismissal from the municipal government.
