Vox pressures the PP and halts negotiations in Extremadura

MadridVox's dramatic move in negotiations with the PP in Extremadura. After several days of talks with the People's Party, the far-right party informed María Guardiola's team that they were halting negotiations. The reason, according to Santiago Abascal's party, is that the Extremadura president has become entrenched in her position. Therefore, they have conveyed to the PP's negotiating team the decision to declare a pause during which they urge them to "reflect." "Right now, we cannot move forward if Guardiola doesn't understand that we will fiercely defend Vox's votes," stated the far-right party's national spokesperson, José Antonio Fúster, at a press conference. However, Vox has also asserted that this is not a complete breakdown in negotiations. In fact, Abascal's party has publicly expressed its willingness to resume talks once the PP has reassessed the situation. "We believe that someone genuinely doesn't want us to be part of this government. Guardiola hasn't quite grasped that we said we wanted a change in policies and ministries with budgets that would make those policy changes possible," Fúster insisted. Vox sources specify that the sticking point is the budget allocation that the ministries the far-right would assume, arguing that having seats in Guardiola's cabinet is worthless if they lack the necessary resources to implement their proposed policies. These same sources explain that they aspire to retain the Agriculture and Industry portfolios. For the Extremaduran Popular Party, however, this argument is merely an excuse and a response to "electoral calculations" in light of the upcoming elections in other autonomous communities—February 8th in Aragon and March 15th in Castile and León. In a statement, the PP lamented this "unilateral and unannounced break," just one day before the inaugural session of the new Bureau of the Extremadura Assembly. At the last meeting three days prior, they added, they put forward a "reasonable proposal that would allow Vox to enter both the executive and legislative branches, including policies they wish to implement and guaranteeing the necessary budget allocations." "Progress had been made on a programmatic agreement where positions were close, making a successful outcome seem likely," the statement maintained. The versions put forward by both sides are, therefore, contradictory.

Entry into the government

The talks to invest Guardiola as prime minister were not expected to be easy from the outset due to Vox's animosity towards the PP leader and her difficulties in reaching an understanding with the far-right party, a situation she has faced since 2023 and which she has openly attacked in recent months. In the previous legislature, Guardiola refused to allow Vox into her government, but she had to backtrack shortly afterward. The PP's strategy has been different this time, offering Abascal's party a place in the government even before they asked. Vox now believes that the PP is "not managing well" the situation following this offer, which they attribute to a tactic by the People's Party to unsettle them rather than a genuine desire to include them in the government. Abascal's party, in fact, has changed its strategy—they were reaping electoral benefits from not holding executive positions—to now establish themselves as a governing party after having decided to withdraw from all regional governments a year and a half ago.

The train tragedy

Fúster's appearance has been marked by the railway tragedy in AdamuzVox has been the only party that has not suspended its agenda and has held the press conference As usual on Mondays, an image of a black ribbon was displayed on the screen behind the lectern, and the Vox spokesperson began with words of condolence. However, Fúster justified continuing the event, presenting the decision as the best way to serve the victims and criticizing the "silence" of others. "They are using it to evade responsibility," he asserted. "Vox will work to ensure the whole truth comes out and those responsible are held accountable. We will never stop," insisted Fúster, who called for a "serious audit of the national railway network" and a "complete review of the government's budget priorities." "The deterioration of the infrastructure has been warned about for years," he stated, directly attacking Pedro Sánchez's administration. "We will not accept that the ruin of Sánchez's government should be the ruin of the State," he concluded.