PNV points out that Podemos may not be "essential" in a future government and believes that the coalition has not understood

Aitor Esteban maintains that the investiture block has not been sufficiently united and that among the partners there is "more sand than cement"

MADRID, 22 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The PNV spokesman in Congress, Aitor Esteban, has warned this Saturday that Podemos may not be "essential" in a future government led by the PSOE and has indicated that, in his opinion, the 'purples' have not "understood at all" that in a legislature like this a party cannot "carry its personal agenda above" its parliamentary partner and those who support them from outside.

In statements to the RNE program 'Parlamento', collected by Europa Press, Esteban recalled that in Pedro Sánchez's investiture debate he already warned that the government parties and their parliamentary allies should concentrate on what united them, avoiding issues controversial "and not pretend to carry the personal agenda of each party ahead of the others".

"And that has not happened, it has not been understood, of course it has not been understood by Podemos at all," laments the spokesman for the Basque nationalists.

In addition, he points out that in the last three years, Sánchez has acted by pulling some partners or others to approve his measures as it suited him. "With which I do not know if Podemos is going to be an essential agent in a next government", he has slipped, referring in any case to the numbers that the ballot boxes throw in the generals.

Regarding whether Sumar and Podemos will finally run together in the general elections and whether the revival of the coalition may depend on that decision, Esteban commented that, even when there are "great personal frictions and injuries", logic "imposes". "Obviously the logic would be for them to go together, but I'm not so clear about it," he admitted.

"It does not make us lose sleep. And we will see what happens in the next legislature. We will act based on the conclusions that we have drawn from this one," Esteban has advanced, insisting that Podemos has not understood that it should have been avoided the most controversial issues within the coalition government and that "anyway a next government does not have to respond to the same agents who are supporting it at this time".

Esteban also complains that despite proclaiming it like this, Podemos "does not recognize the plurinationality of the State. No, no, they do not recognize anything, their proposals go beyond self-government, this has been the case, and the PSOE has also on many occasions". In addition, he added that perhaps one should have opted for a "lesser legislative activity".

"Some of us are giving in and others are giving in, so are we, just as a legislature should have been made that would have united all these groups more," he indicated. And it is that, from his point of view, between the partners of the government and his parliamentary allies, the adequate proportion between "sand and cement" has not been achieved.

"I think that at the moment there is more sand than cement, too much sand and so I don't know what is going to happen. We are going to see what the numbers are and what is happening, we are going to see how strong ERC is, let's go Let's see how strong Junts is, we...", he insisted. "From there, then we will make decisions. It turns out that there is also a socialist government, but not in these conditions, I don't know, we'll see."

One of the issues that has most stressed the coalition government has been the reform of the Law on Sexual Freedom or the 'only yes is yes' law, a modification promoted by the PSOE that has had the support of the PNV, but before which Podemos has voted against.

Asked if the Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, should have left the Government, Esteban replied: "I could tell her what I would have done, especially when one gets so emphatic marking a position, but she is the one who has to decide".

Of course, he has added that it is not "acceptable to be stubborn", as the leader of Podemos has also done, in that "they want to change the consent", which the PNV denies, or in "who votes with whom on such a delicate issue ".

Finally, regarding the Housing Law, Esteban has again criticized the invasion of powers that are exclusive to the autonomous communities and has stressed that if a fair agreement has been reached now it has been because there are municipal and autonomous elections on 28 May.

"I think that everything has been very electoral. This was blocking it, I suppose (the economic vice president Nadia) Calviño and someone else, but it is unlocked for what it is unlocked, because we are at the gates of the elections. I am not going to say a lot but I am going to say something, I think there are members of the Government who were not so clear that this should have been unblocked like this", he released, without wanting to specify if he was speaking, again, of the Minister of Economy.