The PP responds to the PSOE that it accepts a 'face to face' with Sánchez and is willing to make it "three" with Díaz

Pons defends another debate with the rest of the forces in which the ERC, Bildu or PNV are also present due to their "prominence" this legislature

The Deputy Secretary for Institutional Action of the PP, Esteban González Pons, has sent a letter to the Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, to convey to him that they accept a 'face to face' between Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Pedro Sánchez and that they are open to him be "three" with Yolanda Díaz. In addition, he is in favor of another debate with the rest of the political forces in which the ERC, PNV and Bildu are also present due to the "prominence" they have had in this legislature.

This is stated by González Pons in the letter that he sent to the Socialists one day after the deadline for presenting candidacies for the general elections on July 23 closed and after Pedro Sánchez raised several face to face with the head of the opposition .

González Pons stresses that now they know "for sure" that the Government is going to the elections represented by two candidacies and "not by three as, in his opinion, it could have happened given the "divergences that have emerged between some of the ministers". alluding to Yolanda Díaz, Ione Belarra and Irene Montero.

As he adds, the PP hopes that the debates will take place in a "structured way, under logical and agreed criteria of confrontation and with respect for the plurality of forces in Parliament and the Government", that is, "responding to the general interest and not to the individual of any candidate.

In the letter he affirms that, despite the fact that Pedro Sánchez "refused" to debate face to face in the last two general elections held in 2019 with the representative of the PP, Pablo Casado, now Feijóo is "willing to debate and oppose opinions with the Government". "We believed and believe in the usefulness and necessity of debating in the campaign and, therefore, we propose that we begin to negotiate who, how many, how, where and when".

González Pons, who assures that the PP has appointed a negotiating team made up of Miguel Tellado, Luis de la Matta and himself, defends that the first phases of the negotiation be in writing to "avoid misunderstandings and distorted leaks, for greater security and confidence ", as agreed via WhatsApp.

Immediately afterwards, he reiterates that the PP leader agrees to hold a face-to-face debate with the Government, "after the overwhelmed request repeated by its president." However, González Pons specifies that since the government is the first coalition government in history and that its vice president Yolanda Díaz has publicly expressed her interest in participating in this 'face to face', they are waiting for the forces that make up the Executive communicate which person they designate for the debate.

"We understand that the proposal would be to send Pedro Sánchez or Yolanda Díaz, leaders of the PSOE and of the confluence that replaces Podemos in this electoral event, with which you signed the agreement that brought Díaz herself to the Council of Ministers, to the debate," he asserted. .

At this point, he insists that the PP accepts a face to face with Sánchez if Yolanda Díaz "delegates to him the representation of the wing of the Government that he directs, the one corresponding to the ministers appointed by the then vice president, Pablo Iglesias."

A DEBATE TO THREE LIKE IN GERMANY IN 2021

Immediately afterwards, the PP explains that it would accept the possibility of a three-way debate with Sánchez and Díaz. "To facilitate your internal situation in the Government, I want to state that we would accept the possibility that the debate was with Sánchez and Díaz, 'three' instead of 'two', as was done in a similar situation in Germany on 21 , in case you do not get the support of the vice president in your objective of leaving her out of that debate", he adds.

Lastly, they accept another debate with the rest of the political forces, in which they are convinced that, in addition to Sumar and Vox, Sánchez will accept the participation of the PNV, ERC and Bildu (especially when the latter two run in coalition for the Senate), three formations that have been part of "the direction of the State".

"Given the prominence that these three political forces have held throughout the legislature, excluding them now would be to deceive citizens about what they actually vote for. There are seven parties that this other debate must have if it is to be plural, representative and guiding what might happen in the next Parliament", he concludes.