How to give in to Vox: the Valencian PP prepares for the investiture of Pérez Llorca
Both parties are negotiating how to formalize the agreement before the plenary session on the 27th.
BarcelonaA key week to learn all the details of the Valencian pact between the PP and Vox. We await clarification on the exact commitments made. have been closing In recent days, the day circled in red on the calendar, Thursday the 27th, is drawing near, when the investiture debate for Juanfran Pérez Llorca will take place, although the terms of the agreement are expected to be made public beforehand. Negotiations between the People's Party and the far right in the Valencian Community have been ongoing for two weeks, suggesting a swift agreement from the outset, especially given the conservatives' urgent need to reach one. According to sources consulted, from the moment Carlos Mazón resigned on November 3rd As president, Vox presented the Popular Party with a choice they quickly resolved to remain in power: "Govern with Vox's program or elections." In other words, the dilemma between kneeling or waiting for the cataclysm, given polls that harshly punish Mazón's party for the regional government's negligent handling of the DANA storm.
Thus, the predisposition was "very good" from the outset, with total involvement from the team of Pérez Llorca, secretary general of the Valencian PP and candidate to succeed Mazón. The presidential, enthusiastic, and adaptable nature of the has always maintained a good relationship with VoxHe has led talks overseen by the state leadership that have flowed with a flurry of concessions to the Vox leadership, represented by the Catalans Ignacio Garriga and Montserrat Lluis. This positive attitude has even generated suspicion among some sources, who suggest that Pérez Llorca's significant concessions are fertile ground for the party leadership on Génova Street in Madrid to "burn" him out as a candidate and instead back the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, as their presidential candidate in 2027.
The following has emerged from the talks: buried internal war in the match in the territory between the sector of the current candidate, of land Zaplan supportersCatalá and Genoa, but also the Francisco Camps factor, who wants to lead the Valencian PP, in addition to the candidacy championed by the president of the Valencia Provincial Council, Vicent Mompó. Alberto Núñez Feijóo's decision to yield and appoint Pérez Llorca eight days after the president's resignation satisfied Mazón and Mompó's plan, who wanted the current scenario, as well as the territorial leaders' support for the Valencian provincial president in 2027. Mazón's presidency, marked by rabid anti-Catalanism, a rapprochement with Vox's positions, and, above all, the negligent handling of the DANA storm. But everything points to the new phase being with his most trusted person, with a more demanding pact than ever with the far right, and with Mazón still a member of parliament to avoid losing his parliamentary immunity and the case brought by the judge in Catarroja – the Valencian High Court should investigate him.
The dance and the pressure
Initially, the aim was to finalize the agreement on Monday or Tuesday of last week if the talks went well. Formally, according to sources familiar with the matter, only a few points remained to be agreed upon before receiving "final" approval. In any case, Vox was considering a second scenario, which was to "let the clock run" to fully exhaust the negotiations. The content, however, is fairly secure; only a few details remain to be ironed out, but with the consequence that the PP has had to "swallow" proposals like never before, according to Vox sources. This is a message for Feijóo and for the regional president of Extremadura, who has called elections to avoid depending on the far right, having clashed sharply with Santiago Abascal's party, with whom she is "at war." Garriga himself said on Friday that all governments "will have to jump through hoops" for Vox. In other words, everyone will have to give in to Vox's "program" if they want to govern, and they will have to consider the Valencian chapter just another campaign episode. However, Abascal's party even toyed with the possibility of a vote No In the first investiture session, if the desired agreement had not been reached, the situation has gradually improved. The grievances focus on immigration, with the refusal to accept unaccompanied foreign minors and the establishment of "national priority" in social aid for Spaniards; on ultraliberal taxation; against the European Green Deal and the 2030 Agenda, with climate change denial measures in agriculture and transportation; and on the "reconstruction" of Valencia with dikes and dams, in addition to the continuation of the measures agreed upon by Mazón in the budget pact, whose implementation they are demanding.
Uncertainty in the forms
The People's Party (PP) and Vox remain uncertain about the format for announcing an agreement they consider imminent. The PP would prefer to avoid a photo op and a detailed document that would definitively bind them. They also fear that a grand publicity stunt would excessively penalize them electorally, and Panic has spread among the malesEspecially with the regional elections starting this December in Extremadura.
That's why they haven't hesitated to argue that what's important isn't whether there will be a document, but rather that there be transparency during the investiture session. "That day there will be full transparency and a public record to know the formula for government," insisted the new spokesperson for the conservatives in the Valencian Parliament, Nando Pastor, on Thursday. "I'm not worried about having a document before the vote [...], it's neither necessary nor vital," said the Popular Party candidate himself, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, the day before. Vox doesn't see it that way. Through its spokesperson in the Valencian Parliament, José María Llanos, they have made it clear that they are not going to demand "a notarized document," but rather an agreement before the 27th. "If Vox supports the investiture, they will try to finalize the agreement beforehand. If we support the investiture, it will be because there is an agreement," he concludes.