Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Murcia to become fifth region in Spain where Vox has share of power

Spain’s right-wing Popular Party have agreed to form a government with Vox in the southeastern region of Murcia, the fifth time the PP have agreed to share power with the far-right party. 

Published: 4 September 2023 09:02 CEST
Murcia to become fifth region in Spain where Vox has share of power
Murcia is the fifth out of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities to have a regional government where Vox has a share of power. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

Vox will handle two ministries in the region of 447,000 inhabitants: the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Security, Interior and Emergencies, the latter giving the far-right party the right to the vice presidency. 

Vox’s leader in Murcia José Ángel Antelo has not yet been sworn into power but there is little to indicate that the coalition will not go ahead. 

“After closing an agreement on Friday to guarantee the governability and avoid a repeat election, there was an exchange of ideas with José Ángel Antelo this morning over a coffee,” tweeted Murcia’s regional leader and PP head in the autonomous community Fernando López Miras, alongside a picture of the two. 

“The defence of the region of Murcia’s interests always comes first”.

The first regional PP-Vox coalition took place in Castilla y León in April 2022, followed by Extremadura and Valencia in June of this year, and then Aragón in August.

That means that with the soon-to-be formalised agreement between the two right-wing parties in Murcia, five out of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities will have a regional government where Vox has a share of power. 

Prior to 2022, Spain had not had a far-right party in power at regional or national level since the dictatorship of Franco, which ended in 1975.

PSOE party spokesperson Pilar Alegría on Sunday criticised this latest alliance, saying that the PP and Vox are “two sides of the same coin” and that “the PP embrace the politics and ideology of Vox without any shame”.

Following the country’s inconclusive general election held on July 23rd, Popular Party head and prime ministerial candidate Alberto Núñez Feijóo was recently nominated by King Felipe VI two try to form a government, although this bid looks doomed even with the support of 33 Vox MPs as the PP will fall slightly short of an absolute majority. 

Feijóo has sought to distance himself from Vox for the cameras, arguing that he should be the Spain’s new Prime Minister as he was the most voted candidate, but ongoing coalitions with the far-right party led by Santiago Abascal prove that the PP is prepared to accept their support if it means they can govern.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

BREAKING

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will not resign

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced that he has decided to continue as PM after taking a five-day hiatus from office following a dubious corruption investigation into his wife's business dealings.

Published: 29 April 2024 09:14 CEST
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will not resign

“I’ve decided to continue, with more strength if possible, in charge of the premiership of Spain’s government” Pedro Sánchez said from the Moncloa palace in Madrid, his official residence.

Sánchez announced last Wednesday that he was mulling resignation after a Madrid court opened a preliminary probe into suspected influence peddling and corruption targeting his wife Begoña Gómez.

READ ALSO: Who is Begoña Gómez? Spanish PM’s partner thrust into spotlight

“I need to stop and think whether I should continue to head the government or whether I should give up this honour,” he wrote in a four-page letter posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Upon announcing his decision to stay, Sánchez said that “my wife and I know that the smear campaign will not stop, but it is not the most relevant thing, we can handle it.”

Denying the move was a “political calculation”, Sánchez said he needed “to stop and reflect” on the growing polarisation within politics which he said was increasingly being driven by “deliberate disinformation”.

“For too long we’ve let this filth corrupt our political and public life with toxic methods that were unimaginable just a few years ago… Do we really want this for Spain?” he asked.

“I have acted out of a clear conviction: either we say ‘enough is enough’ or this degradation of public life will define our future and condemn us as a country.

“Let us show the world how democracy is defended, let us put an end to this smearing in the only possible way, through collective, serene, democratic rejection, beyond acronyms and ideologies, which I am committed to do firmly as Prime Minister of the Government of Spain”, Sánchez argued.

Spain’s public prosecutor’s office on Thursday requested the dismissal of the investigation into Begoña Gómez’s business dealings.

“I ask Spanish society to once again be an example and inspiration for a wounded world,” the 52-year-old said, calling for a popular mobilisation to “decide what we want to be”, which makes way “for fair play”.

Thousands of supporters massed outside the headquarters of Sánchez’s Socialist party in Madrid on Saturday chanting “Pedro, stay!”.

“We want to thank you for all the support we’ve received,” Sánchez said on Monday. “Thanks to this mobilisation, I have decided to continue as Prime Minister”.

In response to the news, Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares said “I am very happy about the decision that the PM has just announced, it is good for Spain, for progressive policies and for Spain’s leadership position in Europe and in the world.”

“What great news. Today democracy wins,” tweeted Patxi López, spokesperson for the PSOE in Congress.

For his part, former Consumer Affairs Minister Alberto Garzón argued that “Pedro Sánchez has made the right decision. Now it is time to make many in-depth reforms to neutralise the entire strategy and dynamics of the reactionary bloc”, in reference to right-wing parties PP and Vox.

Not everyone has been so positive with Sánchez’s announcement, however. Gabriel Rufián, head of Catalan separatist party ERC which supported the Socialist leader’s in his 2023 investiture vote, described Sánchez’s yo-yoing as a “frivolous act”.

Catalan regional president Pere Aragonès called it “five days of comedy” and a “smokescreen”. 

Right-wing PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo told a press conference that Sánchez had “made a fool of himself” and “used his Majesty (King Felipe VI) as a supporting actor in his film”, in reference to the PM’s meeting with the monarch earlier on Monday.

Madrid’s populist right-wing regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso slammed Sánchez’s behaviour as “absolute shamelessness”.

And the leader of far-right party Vox, Santiago Abascal, warned that “the worst of Sánchez is yet to come” and that Spain needs “an urgent and viable alternative” to him.

Had Sánchez decided to resign, his first Deputy Prime Minister María Jesús Montero would have temporarily taken over as Prime Minister until King Felipe VI designated a new candidate and the Spanish Parliament voted on whether they should be elected as Spain’s new PM.

‘Harassment’ campaign

The court opened its investigation into Sánchez’s wife in response to a complaint by anti-corruption pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), whose leader is linked to the far right.

Shortly after Sánchez’s bombshell letter went out on X, the group, which has presented a litany of unsuccessful lawsuits against politicians in the past, said it had based its complaint on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity.

While the court did not give details of the case, online news site El Confidencial said it was related to her ties to several private companies that received government funding or won public contracts.

Sánchez has been vilified by right-wing opponents and media because his minority government relies on the support of the hard left and Catalan and Basque separatist parties to pass laws.

They have been especially angered by his decision to grant an amnesty to hundreds of Catalan separatists facing legal action over their roles in the northeastern region’s failed push for independence in 2017.

That amnesty, in exchange for the support of Catalan separatist parties, still needs final approval in parliament.

The opposition has since Wednesday mocked Sánchez’s decision to withdraw from his public duties as an attempt to rally his supporters.

“A head of government can’t make a show of himself like a teenager and have everyone running after him, begging him not to leave and not to get angry,” said right-wing opposition leader and Popular Party head Alberto Núñez Feijóo on Thursday.

SHOW COMMENTS