Control session

Rodríguez, to Vox: "You are not so far from the radical independentistas whom you criticise"

Spanish government spokeswoman denounces far right "deteriorates institutions" breaking Spanish Parliament rules

The Spanish government spokeswoman, Isabel Rodríguez, during the session of control of the Congress
22/09/2021
2 min

MadridIsabel Rodríguez believes "radical sovereigntism" is one of the main causes of the "damage to institutions" and of the "weakening of the State", in a line similar to far right Vox. She proved as much this Wednesday in the Spanish Parliament, when she told Vox MPs they "are not that far from the radical sovereigntism they criticise". The Spanish government spokeswoman referred to the episode last night in which MP José María Sánchez García refused to leave the house after the vice president of the parliamentary bureau, Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis, ordered his expulsion. The MP had called a Socialist parliamentarian a "witch" and ignored the three requests for him to take it back.

"They do not respect the rules at all. Your concept of country is so small that you think there is only room for those who think like you, but this democracy is broad and diverse. You are not so far from the radical independentistas you criticise. When you break the house rules, you are also deteriorating institutions and weakening the State", Rodriguez said, questioned by Vox deputy spokeswoman, Macarena Olona, who yesterday starred in a confrontation with a journalist from LaSexta who asked about the altercation caused by her fellow MP.

The spokeswoman for the Moncloa asked for "respect" for the media and its professionals and urged the party to abandon its "reactionary positions". While waiting to see whether Vox decides to present a motion of censure against Pedro Sánchez, Vox has opted to try to regain prominence by muddying the waters and forcing ideological debates out of episodes such as the neo-Nazi demonstration in Chueca and the false homophobic aggression in Malasaña. Vox's opposition has reached the point of rejecting the protocol meeting the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, is holding with all parliamentary groups.

"I have called three times and you have not wanted to meet me," he reproached Vox spokesman in the lower house, Ivan Espinosa de los Monteros, who criticized the Spanish government for tolerating the Generalitat's withdrawal of the Spanish flag during Pere Aragonès's appearance after the meeting with Sanchez in Barcelona last week. "What happened in Barcelona deserves a positive opinion: finally politics faces up to the problems and seeks solutions," Bolaños replied, who has ignored the specific question and referred to the resumption of the dialogue table.

Rajoy's "catastrophe" in Catalonia

The PP has also questioned the meeting between the Catalan and Spanish governments and, in fact, a motion is being debated this Wednesday in which the conservative party requests the minutes of the meeting. Bolaños has defended the executive's bet on dialogue can and has reproached the main opposition party for its management of Catalonia in recent years. "I will explain your curriculum in Catalonia: two illegal referendums, two disconnection laws and a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. This is a catastrophe for Catalonia and for Spain," he said. "What proposal do you have for Catalonia? Making the fracture chronic? You are conflict and we are dialogue," insisted the minister who coordinates the Spanish delegation at the negotiating table.

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