The debate on ETB’s second channel, marked in red since the start of the campaign, will most likely have a limited impact on voting trends in Sunday’s elections. At most, it will have served to clarify the obvious coincidences between the PNV and the PSE, which have sought to open a gap with respect to EH Bildu, and who have made an effort to defend the management of the Basque Government.
Against all odds, furthermore, the debate has avoided the issue of condemnation of terrorism by EH Bildu, which had been the topic of the day after Pello Otxandiano’s statements in an interview on the Ser channel, avoiding using the name “group terrorist” to refer to ETA.
The debate has remained fundamentally on the issues linked to the Basque agenda, closely linked to the issues that appear at the top of the list of social concerns: the situation of the Basque Health System-Osakidetza, the price of housing, issues of an economic nature, the issue of insecurity…
In addition, the program has seen an evolution compared to the first debate, broadcast by ETB-1 a week ago (entirely in Basque). If in the previous one Imanol Pradales was the rival to beat and appeared in high demand by most of the formations, this time it was Pello Otxandiano who has been especially questioned. This is a change in trend that has to do with the trend shown by the polls in recent days, placing the Abertzale coalition in the lead.
The PNV candidate, Imanol Pradales, who had suffered an attack shortly before in Barakaldo, has changed his tone and appearance in contrast to his position a week earlier in the debate in Basque.
Pradales has tried to dress as Lehendakari, he has aligned himself with the PSE and has sought a clash with EH Bildu. At times, his attitude and speech, harsher than at other moments of the campaign, have reminded that of Iñigo Urkullu who confronted the nationalist coalition in the Basque Paralmento, although with a speech with other nuances on the economic and social levels. .
He has felt comfortable when talking about the economy, about support for companies, and has suffered especially with the Osakidetza issue, a section in which Otxandiano has reproached him for not having done “what he now promises.”
The Jeltzale leader has presented his project as an antagonistic model to that of EH Bildu, whom he has accused of “wanting to control everything” and there have been no shortage of references to Venezuela. “If you want a government that tries to control your life or puts your economy at risk, don’t vote for me,” he has gone so far as to say. His economic positioning has earned him the reproach of EH Bildu and Podemos, who have agreed to place him in neoliberal positions.
Pello Otxandiano, for his part, has felt less comfortable than in the debate in Basque and, unlike in that previous program, his insistent strategy of presenting himself as a group that seeks to “find meeting points” has been unsuccessful, every time. that the PNV and the PSE have marked distances with respect to the nationalist coalition from the beginning.
He has not found many moments to deploy his speech, well put together, about the challenges that Euskadi will have to face in the coming years. Otxandiano has avoided large doses of prominence, it gives the impression that he came out to tie and has probably managed to maintain his position.
The candidate for lehendakari of the PSE, Eneko Andueza, has tried to appear proactive and has managed to place some of his messages, but his vehemence has gotten the better of him and he has repeatedly interrupted other candidates.
Javier de Andrés, for his part, is perhaps the candidate who has best managed the times and probably the one who has left the debate most satisfied, always keeping in mind that the expectations of his training are limited. Serene and concise, he has had an easy time differentiating himself from the rest of the parties, whom he has once again accused of “representing the same thing and voting the same thing”, and has managed to find an incentive for his voters in the possibility of being necessary in case that the PNV and the PSE do not add a majority. “We want to have a position of influence and strength in Euskadi to focus Basque politics,” he said.
In the case of Podemos and Sumar, the two forces that represent the confederal left in Euskadi, their representatives Miren Gorrotxategi and Alba García, respectively, have felt comfortable and have acquired the prominence that the campaign is denying them, although one of their problems has been, once again, its difficulty in differentiating itself.
Gorrotxategi has not been as brilliant as in the debate in Basque, although he has been the protagonist in many moments, he has confronted the PNV and the PSE, and he has demanded EH Bildu regarding pacts.
Alba García, meanwhile, has maintained her role and has managed to post concise and easy-to-understand messages. “We simply want three things: to make life a little easier for people, to defend public services and to ensure that we have more time,” she said. The Sumar candidate has avoided confronting Podemos and EH Bildu, and she has repeatedly called Eneko Andueza to account for his management with the PNV.
Finally, the Vox candidate, Amaia Martínez, has seemed to live in a different society than the rest of the candidates. Martínez has desperate the presenter by not respecting the thematic blocks and has sought to focus her speech on the issues of immigration, citizen insecurity, criticism of “politicians”, the situation “in the countryside” or “the harassment of the separatism”.
