Pedro Sanchez charged this Friday from Washington against the inclusion in the electoral lists of bildu of 44 candidates who were convicted of membership and collaboration with ETA. At the start of the campaign for the municipal and regional elections on May 28, the PP has chosen the terrorist band as the main axis of its discourse to wear down the PSOE, due to the support that the aberzale coalition has given in the Congress to a large part of the reforms approved by the central government. “There are things that can be legal, but not decent. This is one of them & rdquor ;, said the chief executive.
From the gardens of the White House, after meeting with Joe Biden, the socialist leader came out of this controversy. The match between the first day of campaign and his presence in Washington was fortuitous. But timely. It was the US president who invited Sánchez, without taking into account, because it is not a matter that particularly interests the American Administration, that the rallies had just started throughout Spain. By coming here as head of the Executive, and not as general secretary of the PSOE, Sánchez avoided attacking in depth the electoral messages of the PP, something that he will be able to do in the party acts that he will star in from Saturday. The only thing that criticized the party of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, without actually quoting him, was his inability to admit that the band no longer exists.
The president reproaches the PP from the White House for its inability to “recognize & rdquor; that the terrorist group “disappeared& rdquor;
The head of the Executive did not leave any room for interpretation in his reproach to the Bildu lists. “The only thing these people can bring to public life is forgiveness, reparation and repentance for the pain they caused,” said Sánchez, referring to the exetarras. More than a decade ago, Spanish democracy defeated ETA. All political representatives must recognize and support the victims of terrorism. We have always been clear. We have an unequivocal position with regard to terrorism: we have always worked for the unity of the Democrats when ETA existed and we appeal to that unity to acknowledge that ETA disappeared& rdquor ;.
A key ally
Like Sánchez, the main ministers and socialist aspirants came out throughout the day in a torrent to deplore the lists presented by the Aberzale left, which during this legislature has been a key ally of the Government to take your initiatives forward: from the housing law to the so-called social shield to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine, going through the extensions of the state of alarm during the pandemic.
The inclusion of those convicted of terrorism among the applicants for Bildu, said the head of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, constitutes a “contempt for democracy & rdquor; and a “serious damage & rdquor; to the victims. “It disgusts me and disgusts me & rdquor ;, pointed out the president of Asturias and candidate for re-election, Adrian Barbon. Its counterpart in Extremadura, Guillermo Fernandez Vara, He used the same expression: “Disgust & rdquor ;. Nadia Calvino, First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs, expressed her “misunderstanding & rdquor; for a decision that means “going back & rdquor ;. The discordant note came from the Aragonese president, Javier Lamban, traditionally critical of Sánchez’s alliances with the Catalan and Basque independence movement, who demanded that Bildu stop being “one of the preferred partners of the Government & rdquor ;.
The day before, the head of Education and PSOE spokesperson, Pilar Alegria, had expressed himself in similar terms, but he also criticized, in reference to the PP, the “use of ETA with partisan purposes”. But that did not prevent this Friday, during a rally in Toledo, insisting on an attitude that the PSOE attributes to its “lack of proposals & rdquor; and “frustration & rdquor; Due to the expectations of his party before the imminent elections, Núñez Feijóo returned to link the Socialists with the disappeared terrorist group. “It saddens me and I’m outraged that ‘sanchismo’ shut up and lower its ears in the face of this provocation & rdquor ;, said the leader of the conservatives.
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Sánchez’s words, on the first day of a campaign that will be heart-stopping, have a special significance. Also because of the place where he pronounced them: the gardens of the White House, after seeing Biden during a 45-minute private meeting. The presidents of the US and Spain displayed their harmony on issues such as the invasion of Ukraine, the fight against climate change and immigration. According to Moncloa sources, there was “a lot of complicity” during the meeting, which later continued with the teams of both leaders.
Except in cases as decisive as the iraq War, international politics does not usually have weight at the polls, but the trip also serves the socialist leader, who in July will assume the presidency of the EU for six months, to set a profile and seek contrast with Feijóo. On the same day that the PP leader was speaking in Toledo about Bildu and ETA, an extinct organization that is not among the main concerns of the Spanish, the PSOE leader was seen in Washington with the US president. Sánchez will intervene this Saturday in a rally in Seville.