The socialist María Chivite has a foot and a half in the Palau de Navarra, although the final agreement with her main partner, the Basque coalition Geroa Bai, is being delayed. With three weeks to go until the end of the term for the investiture, the PSOE has closed an agreement with Contigo/Zurekin, a coalition that includes Podemos, IU and Batzarre, and will have no problems obtaining at least one abstention from EH Bildu, without discard the positive vote. The stumbling block is, therefore, the pact with the formation led by Uxue Barkos, which claims "measures that guarantee" compliance with the government agreement.
In the last few hours there has been a fundamental rapprochement between the PSOE and Geroa Bai. The Socialists had shown their claws regarding the distribution of portfolios and had sent a downward proposal to the Basque coalition. The negotiations became tense to the point of breaking up, and Geroa Bai, a coalition that includes the PNB and Geroa Socialverds, decided to stay out of the Government. On Thursday, however, the negotiations took a new turn. The PSOE amended its previous proposal and presented a more equitable division of ministries, with four departments for the Basques: Health; Citizen Relations, Basque and Foreign Action; Economic Development; and Rural Development and Environment.
The distribution of portfolios met Geroa Bai's requirement of not losing compared to the previous legislature. The socialists, in addition, would guarantee this formation the regional senator and a vice-presidency. The deal seemed almost sealed, until the PNB's part in the coalition cooled expectations. They demand from the PSOE guarantees of compliance. "We want measures that guarantee that, in the face of non-compliance, there are consequences", pointed out the parliamentarian María Solana.
The option of electoral repetition has lost strength after the elections of 23-J, which have not forced the PSOE to rectify its policy of pacts, and once EH Bildu has shown its willingness to support the socialists without counterparts, in case of threat of electoral repetition. Everything indicates that Chivite will be the president of the regional community for another four years, the doubt is with which form of government. The latest offer from the Socialists shows that they want Geroa Bai in the Executive, but the Basque coalition will not take the final step if it sees the threat that its speech will be diluted and the agreements will not be respected.
Geroa Bai became the second force in Navarre and its leader, Uxue Barkos, won the presidency of the community in 2015 with an alternative and transversal discourse that took center stage in the polarized Navarra politics. Since 2019, however, the coalition has lost strength to the push of Bildu and a PSOE that gains weight whenever it moves away from UPN. The Basque formation is weighing the last socialist offer to enter the Government, taking into account the day after the investiture, but also its future as a political project in four years. Chivite is waiting for the answer from his predecessor, Barkos, with the idea of an investiture in less than ten days.
