The formation of the new Basque government is already in the news in Euskadi, while the analysis of the results is losing weight, at least at the public level. Both the PNV and the PSE have avoided wasting time playing tricks and assume that they will find themselves in the formation of a government similar to the current one, although probably with more socialist weight. In the middle, there is one variable that the Basque nationalists must address: how to respond to the persistent growth of EH Bildu, which has tied them in seats and has won in Gipuzkoa and Álava.
The president of the EBB of the PNV, Andoni Ortuzar, has acknowledged that the Abertzale coalition has had a “remarkable” result, although he has also launched a barb at them. “He has not demonstrated the ability to agree with anyone,” he indicated in an interview on ETB.
From there, he indicated that it will be necessary to clarify "which Bildu we are going to have this term", since he appreciated that with "the Bildu of the campaign" the agreement "will be possible" in some matters.
“We will have to see if he did it to win votes or because he wanted a change in his policies. If the change is real, we will find it in laws and initiatives," she noted.
Specifically, he has indicated that they hope that EH Bildu shows a “willingness to collaborate” to move towards a new status for Euskadi, “returning to the self-government proposal” that, in Ortuzar's words, the Abertzale coalition “dynamited when it was very advanced.”
The president of the PNV has indicated, however, that the rise of the nationalist coalition cannot mark the formation of the new Basque government or change "the way of governing the PNV, which should align with the society that has voted for us." In this sense, he has indicated that they will take into account “citizens' attention”, an expression that he already used last year after the municipal and regional elections to make it clear that they would be self-critical.
Regarding the distribution of power in the next Basque government, the president of the PNV has indicated that first they will talk about the government program and then the distribution of portfolios. “We will make a government program that both parties are comfortable with,” he said.
Faced with this position, Arnaldo Otegi, general coordinator of EH Bildu, has regretted that it is returning to "groundhog day" because, in his opinion, PNV and PSE are going to form a Basque government that is "neither nationalist nor leftist." ", which is why he has urged both parties to take into account "the citizen mandate" from last Sunday's elections, which has been "very nationalist and left-wing."
In an interview with Euskadi Irratia, he stated that PNV and PSE "will be entertained in their debates on how to distribute the positions" in the new Basque Executive, something that, in his opinion, "is very curious, because we have spent the entire campaign listening to the PNV candidate say that 'we'll see' because they don't trust Sánchez."
“It took them two hours after the elections to say that they are going to form a government, that they are going to be generous, that the PSOE is going to ask for more, because it seems that they are closing down this dubious government at full speed with the PSOE and that Sánchez has chased away.” all doubts immediately. "We are going to continue with our constructive stance, but we believe that this mandate must have political consequences in these three provinces," he indicated.
In this sense, it has been asked whether, in a hypothetical new coalition government between PNV and PSE, "Andueza will decide the political status or the PNV the fiscal, housing, health or education policies."
"They have all the legitimacy because they have a majority in seats," he added, "but does that really mean that this country wants those policies? No. This part of the country has voted to go to the left and bet more intensely on sovereignty." , he pointed out.
In any case, the nationalist leader has made it clear that the pact between Basque nationalists and socialists will not influence his support for Pedro Sánchez in the Congress of Deputies. "We do not act like that," said Otegi, who explained that after the general elections the "democratic mandate" of the Basque voters was "that the extreme right not govern" and the nationalist coalition will comply with it, regardless of what the PSE in Euskadi.
