Relations between the PP and EH Bildu have been normalized in the daily life of Basque politics for more than a decade, although the perception south of the Ebro is very different and contrasts, logically, with the pointing of the popular to the PSOE for reaching agreements with the nationalist coalition. A good example is the controversy that the distribution of municipal commissions in the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council has sparked this Friday. The popular ones had agreed with the abertzale coalition, the first municipal force, but in the opposition after the PNV-PSE agreement, the distribution of the presidencies in these commissions. The agreement has come to be in force for a few hours, until the PP has decided to step aside in the face of the controversy that had arisen.
It is common for the popular Basques to coincide with EH Bildu in voting in the Basque Parliament, the General Meetings or the town halls, even when they approve their projects or their bills. A good example was seen in June, when the PP approved a legislative reform to facilitate self-consumption of energy in Basque homes.
So, the agreement came in the first session in the Basque Parliament after the 28-M elections, after the PP had tried to wear down the PSOE throughout the campaign for its agreements with EH Bildu in Congress. This Friday it happened in the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, in the last meeting before the 23-J elections, after a campaign in which the popular, once again, once again blamed the PSOE for its agreements with EH Bildu.
In this case, the PP, the third force in the consistory, had agreed with EH Bildu, also in the opposition, that the Abertzale coalition would take over the presidency of six municipal commissions, while the popular ones would preside over five. Not surprisingly, it is common for the commissions to be chaired by opposition groups.
The agreement, which in principle did not have special political relevance, had gone unnoticed, until the PNV reacted harshly, not to make the agreement ugly for the PP, but to blame EH Bildu for its understanding with the popular ones while criticizing that the jeltzales have used conservative votes in some institutions.
The jeltzal criticisms have soon had a derivative in the key of Spanish politics, once it has been verified, once again, that within the dynamics of Basque politics the understanding between the PP and EH Bildu is something relatively frequent.
The Vitoria-Gasteiz PP has chosen to back down. The agreement has remained a dead letter, although once again it has been seen that, indeed, the popular agree on a daily basis with the second force in the Basque Parliament and in Álava, which is the first in the city.
