PNV is committed to reissuing "an umbrella agreement" with the PSE and aspires to maintain Guipúzcoa where Bildu won

He believes that there is no "cycle change" in Euskadi and that the electoral result, rather than "a success" for EH Bildu, is a "demerit" for PNV

BILBAO, 30 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the EBB of the PNV, Andoni Ortuzar, has opted to reissue "an umbrella agreement" with the PSE-EE for the constitution of city councils and General Meetings, in which he also does not rule out the possibility of including another party, and has insisted that they present to the jeltzale Eider Mendoza as candidate for deputy general of Gipuzkoa.

In addition, he believes that there is no "cycle change" in Euskadi and that last Sunday's electoral result, more than a "success" for EH Bildu, is a "demerit" of the jeltzale formation, which has not been able to mobilize a part of his electorate.

In an interview with Radio Euskadi, collected by Europa Press, Ortuzar has revealed that he has already spoken with the general secretary of the PSE-EE, Eneko Andueza. "We are not going to feed ceremonies of confusion and pretend. We have a government pact sealed with the Socialists, which is still in force in the Basque Government and ending in the county councils and in the main town halls of the country. The logical and appropriate thing to do is Let's talk to them first. Let's see how available they are", he stated.

In this sense, he explained that, if both have "a coincidence of objectives and programmatic challenges", of what the municipal and regional governments want, "the logical thing" is that they try to "give the institutions stability and guarantees", as has been happened these past four years.

For this reason, he has recognized that they aspire to reissue the current pacts and has said that in the institutions in which they do not have an absolute majority, such as the Vitoria City Council and the Gipuzkoa and Álava Juntas, they have "an option" with Podemos. "We are going to see how available Podemos is," he added.

The Jelzale leader has said that the PNV and the Socialists will make "a txapela agreement, an umbrella agreement, on how to work, but then it is in each territory and in each town where that is managed, because there is no one who better controls how it should be done the agreement," he said.

In any case, he has insisted that his party present Eider Mendoza as a candidate for the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, and "whoever gets the most votes on voting day" will lead the institution.

"We are aware that, even though we are the first list in a few towns, we are not going to have the mayor's office because Bildu is going to have more votes than us when agreeing with others, and they will assume the mayor's seat," he said.

In this sense, he stressed that "they are not presidential bodies, they are parliamentary bodies, in which whoever has the most votes comes out." On the possibility that the PNV supports the Socialist candidate for mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz (where the PSE-EE has been the second force behind EH Bildu), he has said that they will negotiate with the Socialists "what are those umbrella conditions ". "That is what we have to reissue now in a few days. It is one of the hypotheses that is in the agreements," he explained.

Faced with Arnaldo Otegi's claim that they respect the most voted list, so that EH Bildu holds the Gipuzkoan council and the Vitoria mayor's office, he has asked that "he do it too". "This is so. What is he going to do in Zalla or in how many other places?" He pointed out.

Along these lines, he has referred to Otegi's claim that Joseba Asirón be mayor of Pamplona, ​​where UPN has been the force with the most votes. "We are part of Geroa Bai and we have it very clear between a mayor of UPN or Asirón. But he cannot ask for one thing for others and do another", he stated.

Asked if they would agree in the Álava towns of Laguardia and Labastida with EH Bildu to seize the mayoralties from the PP, as in the last legislature, he reiterated that in each town and in each territory they leave "enough freedom" to their people, "as long as the umbrella agreement is respected", which not only has to be with the PSE-EE, but could include a third force. "It is not so much polyamory as meeting the needs of each site," he stressed.

The president of the EBB does not believe that "a new cycle" has been opened with the municipal and regional elections, as EH Bildu has assured, and he has wondered if in 2011 "a new cycle was opened, because the Basque Country last Sunday is the The same as in 2011, with very similar results" for the formation of the nationalist left "and better results for the PNV than those of 2011 and 2019".

"In 2011 was there a change in the cycle? Well, the cycle did not last long, because in 2015 it changed. I really do not believe in this cycle, and even less in a Basque Country that is so politically open," he said.

Just as he believes that in the State there can be "a change of cycle" because it is moving towards bipartisanship again, he thinks that in the Basque Autonomous Community "it is more difficult". In his opinion, for there to be a "change of cycle" the people of the PNV, instead of "staying at home", would have to have voted "massively" for another party or several parties. "If one does the sum, the PNV won the elections on Sunday", he has underlined him.

In any case, he has admitted that, for them, the results were "a setback", they have internalized it "like this" and will act accordingly. "We will have to do different things and we will have to reconnect with the people because it is clear that we have not known how to hit the key or the key we have played has been the wrong key to mobilize part of the electorate," he admitted.

After recalling that the PNV has dropped 86,000 votes, but continues to be the leader in the Basque Autonomous Community, he pointed out that EH Bildu has risen 20,000, while Podemos has lost 40,000 and the PSE-EE another 20,000.

In this line, he has said that Arnaldo Otegi's formation has not won in Euskadi, and has remarked that the jeltzales have 35% of the votes. He has also referred to the "climate of social protest" that has taken place in the Basque Autonomous Community in recent months, and has wondered if it has been "induced or authentic".

"Is it normal that in an electoral campaign there is such a profusion of acts and of that magnitude that they are a little oriented to annoy people, to piss off? Last Thursday it was impossible to travel through Bilbao and Gasteiz, and in Donosti there were also Has there been a concerted action by people who wanted to twitch at that time? It may be, but in any case it is not an excuse", he added.

For this reason, the jeltzales will carry out an analysis of all the data and the reasons for their drop in votes. "Could someone have tried to stir up the waves? If he has done it, he has been successful, with which we have a problem," she said.

For Ortuzar, more than talking about the "success" of EH Bildu on 28M, it can be said that the result has been a "demerit" for the PNV. "It is hard to say and admit it, but if one goes to the real data, Bildu has not grown that much, it has grown 20,000 votes, which for everything that has happened is quite little," he assured.

The Jelzale leader has admitted, however, that Otegi's party is "very artistic in the way of selling" its politics and "has done it very well", because "it would give the impression that they are the first political force in the country, and they have only won in one territory and in one of the big cities".

"They have known how to position themselves very well and they are making a lot of profit from the new role they have played in Madrid. Sánchez in this last 'txanpa' has given them a lot of life, although I suppose that now he will be sorry for what happened to him from Miranda de Ebro down, but Bildu should be taken away from him I danced", he highlighted.

He has also recognized that "a Bildu at a time when violence was very present is not the same as now that it is doing politics in conditions of democratic normality."