Pontón and Besteiro draw a bipartite in a white glove confrontation with an "absent candidate" very present

Dozens of appeals to the "absent" Round to a non-confrontational debate in which they defend the virtues of "plural" governments

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, 15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The BNG candidate for the Presidency of the Xunta, Ana Pontón, and the PSdeG candidate, José Ramón Gómez Besteiro, drew this Wednesday the bipartite that nationalists and socialists are willing to launch after February 18 if they give the numbers. They did it in a white glove confrontation on TVE, in which they left the confrontation off the set to stage an alternative to Alfonso Rueda's PP.

"The absent candidate." He was the most listened to in the two-way debate held this Wednesday night at the territorial headquarters of TVE in Galicia, in Santiago de Compostela. This is how Pontón and Besteiro agreed in referring, on dozens of occasions, to Rueda. A "sit-in" that, for the nationalist, is "a sit-in for the Galician citizens" and which, for the socialist, shows their "lack of project" and how "difficult" it is to "defend" the management of the last 15 years at the head of the Xunta.

And the absence of Rueda, whose party also declined to send a representative to the debate organized by RTVE, marked an appointment in which Pontón and Besteiro chose to put aside their differences to paint a hypothetical alternative that nationalists and socialists are convinced is possible.

"Moito rifar non quixeron --they have not wanted to have much discussion--," summarized the host of the space, Xabier Fortes, before giving way to the final minute of the candidates in a debate that the Galician journalist himself opened by regretting the absence of the candidate. popular. "We regret that Alfonso Reuda declined to confront ideas or appoint a representative. That said, all we can do is say: you judge," said the presenter of La Noche en 24 Horas.

And the hour dedicated to the confrontation between Pontón and Besteiro turned into an exhibition of the problems that nationalists and socialists believe affect Galicia, many attributed "to the management" of 15 years of popular governments in San Caetano, and to expose their proposals, without any approaches being criticized.

A gentle exchange of opinions regarding the role of the State in regulating the price of energy and the effectiveness of the so-called 'Iberian exception' during the first block was hardly the only disagreement expressed between Pontón and Besteiro during the debate. after which, they also agreed that this Wednesday night reinforces the idea that the polls will bring "a change" in the Xunta, which, in any case, each one sees himself leading.

Thus, they expressed similar positions, with nuances in the recipes, on issues such as the free access to the AP-9 and A-52, the problems of the fishing sector that they believe Rueda "does not defend" in the face of the regulations that the new government intends to undertake. Argentinean Javier Milei, the forestry sector and the "lack" of an industry that is committed to the "transformation" or the "shortcomings" of services such as health and education after "years of cuts" by the PP.

There was also no confrontation in the position on the status of the Galician, an issue that the PP has made a hot topic during this campaign, accusing the BNG of wanting to "impose" it in the school over the Spanish. While Pontón advocated for "equality of knowledge" so that "there can be freedom of choice", Besteiro stressed that the path of the socialists involves encouraging Galician "to be known more and spoken better" from "a tolerant perspective." .

The absence of criticism between them did not mean that, even so, neither of them mentioned the word 'bipartite', although both valued the virtues of different political forces sharing a government.

Thus, Pontón stressed that "a government is not good or bad" depending on the number of parties that make it up and has given as an example the Xunta of the PP, with a single party, and that she will be "delighted" to be the president of a executive "that reflects the plurality of the ballot boxes" to implement an "outstretched hand" policy.

For his part, Besteiro, who emphasized his status as a "socialist" to emphasize that "he is not a nationalist" nor does he believe he could become one, emphasized "how the story has changed" with respect to a month about the possibility of a change that "is visible, palpable." "We are going to change a government of progress that no one can change, we are going to bet on a more open Galicia and a bigger Galicia," he emphasized.

The confrontation between the BNG and PSdeG candidates opened with a block on the economy in which the price of energy gained weight. Besteiro regretted that the Galician industry does not "benefit" from Galicia being an energy-producing place, a diagnosis that Pontón, who has proposed the creation of a Galician electricity tariff, agreed with.

There was practically the only interaction between socialist and nationalist, after the former defended the Iberian exception and the latter questioned its effectiveness. After this first section in which issues about the industry were also discussed - Pontón asked for Alcoa's intervention, Besteiro did not mention the Mariñana factory -, the second block was followed in which the candidates accused the management of the Xunta of the "fall in productivity" of the primary sector.

"We have to regenerate the estuaries not only to take care of the environment, but to create jobs," said Pontón, a glove that Besteiro has picked up to defend the central government has launched a plan to recover the O Burgo estuary, in To Coruña.

Before, during the golden minute, the candidates appealed to Galicians who want change to go to the polls to vote - "they are empty," Besteiro recalled -, the candidates promised "shock" plans to improve the healthcare provision to citizens, focusing on coverage of the territory, and moving towards improvements in the care system to prevent these from continuing to fall "on women."