PNV and PSE-EE close an agreement to form coalition governments in the Basque Country in councils and town halls

They say that the complex situation forces us to seek agreements that guarantee the stability of institutions, "with respect for this plurality"

BILBAO, 2 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The PNV and the PSE-EE have closed an agreement for the governance of regional and local institutions by which they agree to facilitate the formation of coalition governments in the three Basque councils and town councils, in such a way that they will reissue the pact they had been maintaining since 2015 "wherever possible".

In a joint statement, both parties have indicated that the results of the municipal and regional elections on May 28 have yielded an electoral map "diverse and fragmented in Euskadi, a reflection of the plurality of Basque society itself."

As they have pointed out, this reality, together with the "complex" situation that we are experiencing, "recently out of a pandemic" whose health and social effects "are still kicking in and with a war in Ukraine with consequences in the economic, energy and geopolitical order " , obliges the parties that aspire to lead the country "to seek agreements that guarantee governability and the stability of the institutions, while respecting this plurality."

In this sense, both the PSE-EE and the PNV, which, as they have recalled, have been co-governing the main Basque institutions in coalition since 2015 with a "highly satisfactory" balance, believe that they are, in collaboration, the ones who can best "achieve these objectives ".

For this reason, they consider it necessary to reissue, wherever possible, this agreement and that, beyond guaranteeing governability, it should be done on "clear bases" that make it possible to face "challenges such as the protection of public services, the fight against inequalities, the drive for progress and social justice and responding to the great challenges facing Basque society", among which they have cited, climate, demographics and adaptation to a new productive economy with new jobs and labor rights.

"These are interrelated and interdependent challenges, which are not different from those of the societies around us but in which the Basque Country, due to its socioeconomic reality, its high capacity for high government and the stability that PSE-EE and PNV bring to institutions, has the capacity to be at the forefront", they added.

Along with this, he considers it necessary to advance in the "reinforcement" of municipal policies, providing municipalities with sufficient funding that allows them to be "active agents in achieving these objectives, which are also local."

As they have explained, on this basis, both formations agree to "facilitate" the formation of coalition governments in all the Provincial Councils and City Councils of Euskadi.