The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, accused Pedro Sánchez of relying on someone who “planned, ordered and celebrated hundreds of attacks”, in reference to Arnaldo Otegi, who will be sworn in as Prime Minister. In an event held in front of the ‘Gernika Tree’, on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the approval of the Basque Statute, the leader of the Popular Party assured that “the future of Spain” will not pass into the hands of the leader of EH Bildu: “The dignity with which the Basques suffered terrorism cannot now give way to this disgrace.”
Feijóo, who visited Bilbao this Monday to participate in the National Congress of Family Business, met with Lehendakari Urkullu in the aforementioned meeting chaired by the King. An appointment where the two leaders barely exchanged a greeting but without, according to Lehendakanaritza sources, any meeting that took place.
In the afternoon Feijóo assured that the nationalist left coalition represents “the worst of the past” and represents the “worst of the future.” In an event where the entire Basque PP participated, with the outgoing leadership represented by Carlos Iturgaiz and the incoming leadership led by Javier De Andrés, the leader of the PP defended “autonomism.” He urged the Basque party to become “the PP of Euskadi, not the PP of Euskadi” as a guarantee of the symbol of coexistence “and meeting point” like the Statute of Gernika of 1979.
“What coexistence are you talking about?”
He presented himself as a defender of freedom, even in the postulates of nationalist formations despite the fact that his idea “does not involve a plurinational State.” Feijóo stated that he has always defended a “Constitutional Galicianism”: “On the other hand, a plurinational State that has not been defined by anyone. Self-determination has no place in our system, it impoverishes people ,” he assured.
In relation to the coexistence appeals where the PSOE candidate wants to proclaim amnesty for the fugitives of the ‘procés’, Feijóo remembers that in fact “it is not coexistence but conspiracy” what is intended to be approved, “it is the imposition of nationalists versus those who are not”: “Does anyone think that the perpetrator of a crime can be forgiven without apologizing? What if he also says that he has not repented and that he will do it again?” He pointed out that even Bildu with the victims of terrorism or the Catalan independence movement with the aforementioned groups did not make any gesture of forgiveness, “what coexistence are they telling us?”
In this sense, he pointed out that in this 44th anniversary the Gernika Tree emerges as a symbol of coexistence that must accommodate “everything, if half is left it has no meaning.” Because of this, he chooses to strengthen his survival against those who want to “destabilize” him. He emphasized that the PP defends the Statute, “not only theoretical” but practical autonomy “in its final consequences: “It is not by chance that ETA wants to destroy Basque autonomy, it does so because it guarantees independence of these people. ”
Constitution and Law
The outgoing president of the “popular” Basque party, Carlos Iturgaiz, also intervened in the event, demanding that the Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, “do better management, follow the Statute, and stop the pro-independence utopias ” because he sees in the Basque Executive “a lot of political demands and little accountability”: “Governing well also means following the Statute of Gernika,” he emphasized, adding that “this Basque Government is not capable of guaranteeing of coexistence, well-being, freedom and prosperity of all. Basques and the use of self-government to serve the people and the Basque society that shows itself as plural and democratic.
For Iturgaiz, there are only two structures in a reformed world, “the Constitution and the Statute”: “There are too many harassment and demolition operations against them,” Iturgaiz pointed out. The president of the Basque PP assured that the attempts to overcome the statutory framework are supported by “exclusionary approaches” that are not able to unite all Basques.
