The references made by the PNV spokesperson, Aitor Esteban, to the Popular Party and its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, during his speech have been very specific and brief, although they are causing a queue. On the one hand, the deputy Jeltzale has referred in a joking tone to the pacts of the popular party with Vox, with that allusion to the Galician politician’s “seized tractor.” On the other hand, the Basque politician has let it slip that the Popular Party were willing to go further than the PSOE in their investiture negotiations: “Spain is breaking up… Someday perhaps I will tell what they offered us a couple of months ago. “It was going to be striking.”
Barely an hour after Esteban’s intervention, El Diario Vasco has published part of the content of those offers. According to this media, the PP “two months ago offered the PNV a ministry in its Government – the Industry portfolio was considered – in exchange for the Jelzals’ support for the investiture.”
The head of the Vocento Group also reports that the popular parties also appeared willing to offer “important investments for Euskadi and a relevant role in the dialogue with the Government.”
Sabin Etxea has indicated that they are not going to go into details about what Esteban expressed; However, Núñez Feijóo himself pointed out in an interview in the same communication group that published the news that “the PNV has renounced influencing Spanish politics more than ever”, alluding to its refusal to support it.
As is known, the PNV decided a few hours after the elections on July 23 that it would not support an eventual investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, since Vox’s votes would be essential for his election and throughout the entire mandate. Despite pressure from the PP and some influential groups, the Basque nationalists remained firm in that position.
The Jeltzales, therefore, did not enter into negotiations on the investiture, although they did meet, at the request of the PP, on at least two occasions at the beginning of September. In those meetings, the Popular Party sought to get the Basque nationalists to turn around and agree to negotiate, despite the fact that they lacked the political margin to do so, due to the need for Vox and the proximity of the Basque Parliament elections next spring.
It is within the framework of those contacts that the alleged offer to which Aitor Esteban has alluded and which El Diario Vasco publishes would have taken place.
Specifically, the president of the PNV Executive, Andoni Ortuzar, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo met on September 7 in a private meeting, while Aitor Esteban and the popular general secretary, Cuca Gamarra, met publicly on the 18th of the same month.
The PP, meanwhile, has denied any offer to the PNV, since “there was no type of negotiation.”
“They told us they didn’t want to sit with us. In order to offer something there has to be a negotiation and the PNV did not want to negotiate with the PP. We have not been able to offer them anything. More important, it seems to me, is what the PSOE has committed to EH Bildu, whose votes have been compromised in this investiture,” said deputy Esteban González Pons.
