Vox announces a "resounding no" to Guardiola in Extremadura

BarcelonaTwo days after the Aragonese elections, with Vox surges with double the number of deputies and a PP on the declineThe far right has made it clear that the males Popular parties seeking to form a coalition will have to pay a high price. This Tuesday, the focus was on Extremadura, where the snap election also failed to achieve the Popular Party's objective of gaining room to maneuver. The acting president of the regional government, María Guardiola, was nominated as a candidate and appealed for "responsibility," with harsh words for Santiago Abascal's party: "It cannot be that the PP, which won the elections with the support of 43.2% of voters, has to disguise itself as Vox," she added. But shortly afterward, she confirmed that the radical right had closed the door on supporting her and stated that it was up to her whether or not to hold new elections. Vox's secretary general, Ignacio Garriga, announced a "resounding no" to supporting her because "she has not understood the mandate of the ballot box."

"Why are they having so much trouble reaching an agreement with Vox? They didn't have so much trouble reaching an agreement with separatism," Garriga remarked, referring to the agreement with CiU under Jordi Pujol. The crux of the problem is the scope of the agreement and how their entry into the government will be implemented, which is a condition after they left in 2024, citing the PP's failure to comply with immigration policies. Abascal's party wants to enter now under the pretext that it will guarantee compliance with the agreements, and they want departments with responsibilities and budgets, not vice-presidencies without portfolio.

Garriga was not at all pleased with Guardiola's remarks when he pointed out that Vox had demanded in the negotiations "the full implementation of its political program and more positions in the executive branch," supposedly disproportionate to the demands. Garriga has clung to this concept to assert that if he wants to unblock the pact, he must accept the "paradigm shift" that comes with "proportional" power. In this regard, he stated that "policies" and "guarantees" are needed to implement them; that is, a budget managed by them with double the weight for twice the number of seats won. This means having key ministries, the stumbling block in the negotiations that has led Vox to stage such a clear rejection. "Has Feijóo asked to halt the negotiations?" he has even asked.

Feijóo calms the atmosphere

Taking advantage of his position of strength, Garriga insisted that everything "depends on the PP" and expressed openness to negotiating "with the firmness" of the election results, a warning of what could happen in Aragon. In this region, the situation is not expected to be as entrenched, although Vox has not yet initiated talks. In parallel toin crescendo Between Vox and Guardiola, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, defended the governing pacts with Vox from Valencia, but reminded everyone that the PP, not the far right, came in first. "The protest vote must be put to work. Otherwise, there will be more anger," he said. He thus expressed satisfaction with the results in Aragon and Extremadura, despite the fact that the PP is in the hands of Vox and depends on the far right to form governments. This bodes ill for the general elections after... at the congress The PP's celebration last summer was intended to send the message that Feijóo would only govern alone.