Less than six weeks before the Basque elections on April 21, the parties have begun to reveal their cards and, as expected, try to align their messages with the issues that appear at the top of the list of citizen concerns. The PNV has chosen to take the bull by the horns and face concern about the situation of the Basque Health Service-Osakidetza, although with the discomfort that it is a matter that it has been managing. EH Bildu, meanwhile, tries to present itself as a credible alternative, its great pending issue, and prioritizes the issue of housing, the main concern among young people.
Beyond the fight between the two nationalist formations, the PSE seeks to gain a foothold with proposals related to Osakidetza, employment or public housing, while at the same time marking distances with EH Bildu and making it clear that they would not support an eventual investiture of the nationalist coalition . The PP, for its part, is trying to find its Basque agenda, after years drinking from the state agenda. And Podemos and Sumar, finally, compete for the same electorate with the defense of the public as their flag.
Ainara Villaño, political scientist specialized in political communication at the consulting firm Silván
Contrary to what happened a few years ago, when the territorial debate and the scourge of terrorism marked the agenda and conditioned the debate, the Basque pre-campaign today focuses on issues of this nature. The territorial framework arrives, in any case, with a more instrumental approach that both PNV and EH Bildu have been working on conscientiously in their speeches. “More Basque self-government means greater well-being for society,” said Imanol Pradales, Jeltzale candidate for lehendakari, this week. “National and social liberation are two sides of the same coin,” they insist from EH Bildu.
From there, the parties strive to align their messages with these issues that appear among the main citizen concerns, especially after the high abstention rates that have been recorded since the 2020 elections to the Basque Parliament.
“The parties are making an effort to align their messages with these concerns, perhaps aware that in the 2020 elections half of the population abstained, also because they were in the summer and in the middle of the pandemic. However, there are important differences between parties, since there are also very important differences in the hierarchy of voters' concerns or according to age groups. For example, young people are 10 points more concerned than the average about the issue of housing and 17 points less about the situation in Osakidetza,” he clarifies.
Taking into account the position of the political parties when it comes to addressing these concerns, Villaño considers that, in the case of the PNV, the first weeks of the pre-campaign are serving to verify that they have placed the situation of the Basque Health Service as a priority issue. campaign, despite the contradictions it may generate.
“It makes perfect sense that they address it because it is of concern among their electorate, which is older and has a significant predominance of women. They have chosen not to ignore it, although establishing, yes, the framework that they believe can benefit them: clarifying that it is a temporary situation motivated by the tension of the pandemic or pointing out that they are going to improve it with the help of Osakidetza professionals. , he indicates.
Silvan's political scientist
Ainara Villaño clarifies, finally, that the Jeltzales' commitment to introduce the issue of insecurity, which has appeared among the main concerns in an ambivalent manner and only in some municipalities, is due to the fact that it is an issue that the PNV can address. Respond from a comfortable position. “For the left, however, it is a more uncomfortable debate. For EH Bildu or Podemos it is not so comfortable to talk about placing more ertzainas in the streets, for example,” she indicates.
The nationalist coalition, meanwhile, is prioritizing the debate on the high cost of housing, which in areas such as Donostia/San Sebastián acquires capital importance, without forgetting issues such as the situation of Osakidetza or, in general, social services.
Villaño also highlights that EH Bildu "is knowing how to read the mood of Basque society", measuring its speech and its criticism of the PNV. “People are not angry with the PNV, but disappointed. The nuance is important because they must respond to a feeling of boredom about a way of managing and not so much to generalized anger,” he indicates.
In this sense, the abertzale formation is trying to exhibit a more comprehensive discourse that postulates it as a credible alternative, trying to show “that it has a plan for the country.” “Their challenge is to appear as an alternative government, since they have traditionally been in the opposition. It has always failed to be perceived as a party capable of achieving maximum responsibilities when managing. They are trying to show a clear country strategy at the level of public policies, addressing matters that are strategic for Euskadi, such as industry or the environment. They come to say: 'we also have a plan for this country, we can also govern and we want to do it this way.' Furthermore, it must be said that it is a continuous strategy, they have been following this logic for a couple of years now, presenting approaches on the industry, on the climate issue... These types of bets must be continued to be credible."
In the case of the socialists, Villaño perceives Eneko Andueza as particularly interested in the issue of employment: “It is an issue in which they have their own agenda because they have managed it. Although the situation of the labor market and the quality of employment remain the main concern, it has fallen significantly and, in general, the data is positive.”
On the other hand, in these first weeks of the pre-campaign it is worth highlighting the effort that Andueza is showing to mark distances with EH Bildu. “Among socialist voters, the pact with EH Bildu is one of the last options, so this insistence makes sense,” he says.
The popular ones, meanwhile, face the challenge of building their own agenda in the Basque Country. “Iturgaiz has been trying for four years to get the Basque PP to talk about issues on the state agenda, which in Euskadi do not matter as much. They have been drinking from the state agenda and that is a problem when you have to campaign for Basque elections. Issues like the amnesty do not permeate Euskadi,” he explains.
In this sense, Villaño believes that Javier de Andrés is trying to build his own agenda by referring to issues such as productivity or infrastructure, while predicting that they will end up bringing up the issue of linguistic policy. “This is an issue that does not appear among the concerns of citizens, but does appear among those of PP voters,” he adds. Along the same lines, he draws attention to how concern about the Osakidetza situation plummets among popular voters.
The popular ones, in addition, face the difficulty that inciting fear of EH Bildu can be a problem, since the PNV is seen as the useful vote to prevent the nationalist coalition from winning the elections.
Finally, Podemos and Sumar will compete for the same electorate with that defense of the public as their flag, an area in which both the Osakidetza issue and social policies or education enter, a matter in which they maintain a different approach from that of EH Bildu. .
The ideological differences between Podemos and Sumar in Euskadi are minimal, so this struggle can be resolved based on the sympathies generated by the leadership of both parties throughout Spain.
