This Sunday yes. Within a year… Look, it didn’t seem that the PP could get an absolute majority in Andalusia, rather it seemed like a recondite fact. But he has succeeded. There has been a sociological change that we experience in Andalusia, which is the trail of votes that the PSOE has lost. But if you add the votes of the PP and the other political forces that are to the right of the PP, the percentage is close to 60%. I believe that there is an electoral change in Spain as a result of the fatigue of the political materials of the socialist party and of an atypical government, a tripartite between the PSOE, Izquierda Unida and Podemos that, in addition, is based parliamentarily on the independence movement of Bildu and ERC . This has produced a wear and a very important discredit of Mr. Sánchez’s party.
And what will happen in a year?
The most normal thing is that this discredit continues and even increases. But I like to be cautious and analyze things as they happen. I believe that this government, the current one, has not been chosen to govern a crisis but rather an economic boom. With the pandemic crisis, it has been proven that it has not been managed by the central government but by the communities. And now we are in an economic crisis where we are the worst country in the European Union in terms of GDP, debt, deficit, unemployment… And that is a handicap for a socialist party in any autonomous community.
What is your opinion of the fragmentation of the left and that regrouping that Yolanda Díaz is trying to do with Sumar?
We have to be respectful of the rest of the parties, with their divisions and their platforms. But it is ironic that at a time of greatest division on the left, a new party called Sumar appears. Perhaps it is not the most appropriate name, and it certainly does not describe the situation you are trying to manage. And I prefer not to continue, I have no intention of criticizing a party that is not mine. But it is ironic that at the time of the greatest division in the Government, a vice president heads a platform against the Government, both of Podemos and the PSOE, and that it is called Sumar.
Why has the PP changed so much in such a short time?
It is true that four months ago we had a cardiac arrest, but we have reactivated the patient and he lives a normal life. We have motivated the party in general and, in addition, we have had unprecedented success. In Andalusia we have been able to with the 40 years of the PSOE and the surveys that are published say that we are ahead. But one thing is a survey and another the electoral scrutiny. What is evident is that we have achieved unity, enthusiasm and unprecedented success like that of Andalusia. The party needed some basic rules of organization and operation, which is to respect the territories and ask for responsibilities in the exercise of its powers.
Doesn’t he take some credit?
The merit of the Andalusian elections is, without a doubt, the PP of Andalusia. But whether the acronym adds or subtracts is more a responsibility of the party president. And I think that in this case the national acronym has added, although the success is his.
The electoral brand, however, was more ‘Juanma’ than PP.
Yes. But in Tarazona do you vote for the PP or do you vote for the candidate? The Spain of the autonomies is very consolidated, in such a way that a person can vote in the town for the PSOE and in the community for the PP. Of course, the parties are of enormous importance, but the balance, the management, the project and the candidate are becoming more so.
Ayuso model?
Yes. Ayuso model in Madrid, Juanma Moreno model in Andalusia…
How do you see the topic of scholarships in Madrid?
I have not seen the Madrid regulations because they do not correspond to me. But what has Ayuso done? The income level has increased to 36,000 euros. Well, it can be discussed if it is a lot or if it should stay at 28. Although there is an objective fact and that is that the rent in Madrid is higher than other communities, as are the prices. If that is done by removing the scholarship for low incomes, we cannot share it. But if that is done by maintaining the scholarship for low incomes and raising it for medium incomes, it is a perfectly legitimate discussion, both for those who do it and for those who criticize it.
Accustomed to absolute majorities throughout your career, do you see any chance that this could happen in the next general election?
If there were elections this Sunday, I am convinced that the PP would get an excellent result, which would mean a very large majority to govern. But we don’t even know when the elections are or the moment that Spain will be experiencing when we are summoned to the polls. So we are going to be cautious. We are going to improve our teams, put those who we believe are the best in each place and hope with the policy of moderation, centrality and stability. And we will continue to make proposals.
As which?
How to lower taxes on income of less than 40,000 euros. Because it makes no sense that a man who is paying more for everything should also have to pay more taxes. At least if the prices go up, that he doesn’t raise the tax in the same proportion. If you had planned to raise $9 billion more during the 12 months of 2022 and have raised $15,500 more in the first five months, return that excess collection to the most modest rents. It surprises me that an alliance of parties that calls itself left-wing decides that the most modest incomes should pay for it. The biggest cut in recent years is 10% to the whole world, which is the IPC.
Also in terms of defense?
We have proposed a pact for the national security and defense policy before NATO. Answer: no comment. We have already seen what happened, with division before the summit, demonstrations during and subsequent announcement of ‘contempt’ for the commitments that the Prime Minister had assumed in relation to the US and military spending. And this Friday we have made an energy proposal. What we are trying to do is tell the Spaniards not to see us as the opposition group but as the alternative to the government, which is my way of exercising my responsibility.
Without being opposition?
Oppositions are plenty. He has them within the Government, within his parliamentary and multiple partners in Congress. But there is only one alternative. Let’s see if we are capable of making the Spaniards see it, this is going to be my job.
How do you read the immolation of Citizens in an electoral key?
I believe in buildings with very solid foundations, in trees with deep roots that have a lot of trunk and a lot of wood. I don’t believe in buildings that are erected in a short time because they are dismantled in less time. What happened to the new policy? Which has become the old policy. When you saw people who had never managed anything but had solutions for everything, that can produce a mirror effect but it doesn’t last long. There are good people in Cs, they made good signings, very profitable in some cases. In the end, the electorate of the center right knows that when there has been a deep economic crisis in Spain, the PP has been called to the Government.
Why?
Because we have experience in management and we have been in political life for 40 years. We have roots everywhere and I believe in that project. The concentration of the center right will take more or less but it will be done. And everything seems to indicate that Cs will return to the common home of a reformist and center party such as the PP.
It gives the impression that it predicts the end of populism.
Yes. I am convinced that the new policy has already become the old policy.
What do you think that nuclear energy and gas are green energies?
It seems correct, realistic, pragmatic to me. And in this situation of international conflict with one of the world powers in gas and hydrocarbons, it seems to me that it is a responsible and necessary measure. We do not know if the German chemical industry will work this winter, if there will be supply cuts in the Russian gas pipeline, how far the CPI will go or how long the conflict will last. In exceptional situations, unavoidable measures must be taken. I understand that this does not give votes from the point of view of what is optimal, but it is the most responsible. What surprises me a lot is that one of the countries with the highest increase in prices in Europe and the one that has increased the public debt of the euro countries the most, which is Spain, says no, that everyone is wrong except our country. I agree with European common sense.
Recalling that of the worse, the better, there are voices that point out that inflation is something that the PP is interested in maintaining for the electoral benefit that it can bring.
In traditional political theory it is like that (laughs). The worse, the better for the opposition. But I reiterate that we are interested in winning as an alternative government. We have made a risky decision, which is: what do you propose in economic matters? I tell you. In national security and defense? I tell you. And in the energy field? Also. We could shut up and there you. But we have lowered the rent because we have 15,000 million and this operation is worth 9,000. I mean, there’s money to do it. And I am not jeopardizing any public service.
What does it say about European funds?
European funds, for example, nobody knows where they are. Today I have been with businessmen from Aragon and some have told me that they were not even going to ask for them when knowing so many papers and requirements that they request. Here in Aragon as in all of Spain, I do not know anyone who has received European funds. We are in the middle of 2022 and the funds are from 2021. And we have made proposals in economic matters. In April we said that VAT on electricity would have to be reduced to 5% and they told us that it was just an idea. But now they have. And why didn’t the Government reduce VAT on gas to 5%? In Spain, moreover, no one has been told that we are going to lower the price of gas by 10% for households that do not have a medium- and long-term contract and that this money is going to be paid by households and companies that They have long-term contracts. Wouldn’t it have been better to lower VAT to 5% as others have done? That is, we are making economic proposals.
Also on defense?
Before the NATO summit, and given the risk that was later confirmed that there would be tensions in the Government, we proposed that military spending at this time, rather than trying to raise it in a reasonable way and charged to excess political public spending- bureaucratic that the Government has, we proposed that NATO give us a guarantee of our territorial sovereignty, therefore of our extrapeninsular territories. Well, it is a document that if you compare it with the one that came out of the summit, you will see that it is practically the same. But we have not even had an acknowledgment of receipt. And so everything… We are in a very complicated situation, the reality is that we are the last. It is very hard to accept that your country is the last of the class in the euro.
What do you expect from the debate on the state of the nation?
First to be celebrated. So many years without debate does not seem very transparent. We are going to listen to the president with all due respect, we are going to see if he speaks on behalf of the Government or exclusively on behalf of the PSOE. Let’s see if he speaks on behalf of one or two. Or three. We will see if he proposes policies that improve the situation of the Spanish and not exclusively their parliamentary balance. And then we will make our proposals.
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Will it be very hard to be there without being able to speak?
You are right. Normally in a debate the leader of the opposition can speak. I assume the rules. I am not a deputy and the table has understood that I have no right to speak and I will comply.