The popular Jorge Azcón has been invested this Thursday as the new president of Aragon with 36 votes in favor and 31 against. To achieve that absolute majority in the first round, the candidate had the support of the seven Vox parliamentarians, with whom he agreed last week to a government agreement that grants the far-right a vice-presidency and two councils, and the only Party deputy Aragonés (PAR), which the opposition accused of "selling his soul to the devil."
On the second and last day of the investiture, the exchange of blows from the lectern began at the point of the morning. The PSOE spokeswoman, Mayte Pérez, reproached the popular for not having explained why he gave up forming a government alone and ended up signing a pact with the ultra party that she described as "retrograde, sectarian, privatizing and elitist". It supposes "a return to the political cave", remarked the socialist.
Pérez also estimated at 200 million euros the amount that the Aragonese Executive will stop collecting with the tax cuts announced a day before -IRPF, inheritance tax, wealth tax- and attacked the "ideologization" of the educational system, the privatization of the health and a "leap back in two centuries" in social policy.
In his reply, Azcón defended that the coalition with Vox has been "the only possible government" given the result of the polls, especially given the PSOE's no to his request to abstain and facilitate a solo government. "There is no more stable government than the one that is going to be voted on today in this chamber," he pointed out.
In addition, the new president rejected the attempts of the PSOE, he said, to impose "the story of fear" and that "dark times" are approaching, a speech that he accused of copying the national socialist leader, Pedro Sánchez.
The popular went through again, at least during the reply to the opposition, most of the conflicting points of his pact with Vox, such as the repeal of the autonomous law of Democratic Memory or the reform of the Trans law. What he did want to influence is that there will be no censorship nor will the protection policies for women against sexist violence be weakened. "I do not see the PP repealing any law that has to do with gender violence," he declared.
In addition, in line with what he advanced in his speech the previous day, he assured that the first measure of his Government will be to exempt the 15,000 Aragonese who have been forced to pay this tax for not having deflated the rate from paying personal income tax.
After the PSOE, it was the turn of the rest of the opposition parties. The most notorious clash occurred with the spokespersons for Chunta Aragonesa, José Luis Soro, and that of Unidas Podemos, Andoni Corrales. The first accused him of putting a "Trojan horse" in the government that brims with "reactionary, anti-system and intransigent" ideology, referring to Vox. The second, to "come to demolish democracy" and to dismantle public health and education services.
The popular party assured on several occasions that its objective is not to privatize these services -although it is committed to "public-private collaboration"- and accused both of servility for their actions in the last four years as part of the governing quadripartite headed by the Socialist Javier Lambán.
Kinder was the exchange with the owner of Teruel Existe, Tomás Guitarte. The man from Teruel, very critical of the PAR, asked the new Government from the rostrum to pay attention to the rural world, reinforcing urgent medical transport, creating a commission on the implementation of renewables and achieving regional financing "sufficient to provide equality services of opportunities throughout the territory.
The popular recognized that they share with the regional formation the analysis of many of these problems and valued the "critical but constructive" discourse of a formation that provides "a certain balance" to reach agreements that benefit everyone.
Finally, it was the turn of his two supports. The PAR deputy, Alberto Izquierdo, assured that his presence in the pact is the best guarantee that there will not be a transfer of the Ebro, a policy that pits the Aragonese PP (against) against Vox (in favor).
For his part, the Vox spokesman and next Aragonese vice president, Alejandro Nolasco, outlined the most relevant policies of the agreement signed with the PP: elimination of the Democratic Memory law, greater "freedom" in education for parents, tax cuts, direct aid to farmers and ranchers, the creation of a baby check and the promotion of birth..., although he did not mention the reform of the Trans law, which did appear in the common text.
“It is an exciting pact, which allows Vox to reasonably comply with the commitments made,” said Nolasco, who promised to ensure compliance with the 80 points of the agreement.
