The PP-Vox pact includes dealing with "exclusionary Catalan nationalism"

After more than two months of negotiations, PP and Vox yesterday sealed the government agreement that will grant the presidency of Aragon to the popular Jorge Azcón. It is an 80-point pact in which the ideological imprint of the ultra-right has considerable weight, with commitments such as the repeal of the regional law of Democratic Memory, the reform of the trans law, the intention to end the “ideology ” in the classroom or the suppression of the General Directorate of Language Policy. “The Vox program is reasonably included,” its national leader, Santiago Abascal, congratulated himself. Even so, his formation agreed to park the transfer of the Ebro, an issue that confronts them, or to collect explicit references to sexist violence.

In the notable absence of Azcón, the act of signing fell to the spokespersons of the parties in the Cortes, the popular Ana Alós and the ultra-nationalist Alejandro Nolasco, the next vice president of the community. Regarding the non-appearance of his leader, Alós pointed out that “it has been done as in the Balearic Islands”, where it was the parliamentary spokesmen who signed the pact, although in that case Vox is not part of the Government. Hours later, Azcón himself congratulated himself on Twitter for the start of “a new stage.”

With 28 deputies out of 67 possible, the popular always opted to govern alone. However, Vox’s refusal to facilitate his necessary abstention, the results of the general elections and the sighting of the deadline not to repeat the elections (August 23) forced him to make his position more flexible. The result is a pact in which Vox wins a vice presidency and two ministries (they aspired to three): Agriculture and Livestock and Territorial Development, Depopulation and Justice, which will fall to Nolasco.

With regard to the program, the PP also gave in with the inclusion of the repeal of the law of Democratic Memory of Aragon, although Alós pointed out that his party voted against this initiative. Instead, he did acknowledge that they supported the Law on Gender Identity and Expression and Social Equality, the trans-regional law, which was approved unanimously and which they now intend to reform. “There is room for improvement,” he said, though without giving any clue as to what.

In line with the demands of the extreme right, the coalition also proposes the suppression of the General Directorate of Language Policy and the revision of the text of the law on the use, protection and promotion of the languages ??and linguistic modalities of Aragon (Aragonese and Aragonese variant of Catalan). “We will watch over Aragonese history and culture, indissoluble parts of Spanish history and culture, against the lies and self-interested manipulations of exclusive and expansionist Catalan nationalism,” picks up another of his sections.

Another sign of the ideological shift can be seen in the inclusion of a measure whereby parents “will freely choose and, where appropriate, authorize the content of extracurricular activities”, something reminiscent of the controversial parental pin. Also in the absence of any mention of climate change compared to the three sections on the fight against the occupation of homes.

On the contrary, the PP has not yielded in relation to the Aragonese Gender Violence law, which Vox intended to eliminate. Although without expressly mentioning it, the agreement does declare “support and fight against violence against women”, the need to work to eradicate “sexist discourses” or support and assist “victims of domestic violence” (women, children , elderly…) In addition, Alós stressed that the Aragonese Women’s Institute will be maintained, and PP sources pointed out that the powers in matters of equality will fall on the Ministry of the Presidency.

The pact also does not contain any express mention of the transfer of the Ebro, something that Azcón opposes without fissures in the face of Vox’s wishes to connect all the hydrographic basins. Instead, the text is limited to committing to the “full development of all hydraulic regulation works” necessary to guarantee the water reserve included in the Statute of Autonomy. “One thing is what is in the party programs and another is the government agreement. That is what we are going to defend tooth and nail”, Alós stressed.

The rest of the parties in the Cortes (PSOE, Teruel Existe, Chunta, IU and Podemos) criticized the pact and announced their vote against, while the only PAR deputy, who aspired to enter the Governing Council, has not voted pronounced. In principle, Azcón’s candidacy could be put to a vote next Thursday to take over from the socialist Javier Lambán, still acting president, as soon as possible.