Sánchez tells Feijóo that his phone is "open" and that he called Rajoy when he was leader of the opposition

He accuses the leader of the PP of being "docile" with the interests that elected him and trusts his investiture partners for the PGE

MADRID, 1 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has assured that his telephone number is "open" for any political leader who wants to call him, also the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and has recalled that when he was leader of the opposition he used to call Mariano Rajoy.

Sánchez has defended himself against criticism of the lack of dialogue with the leader of the main opposition party in the current situation, assuring that it was he who called him for their first meeting in Moncloa on April 7, when he proposed eleven pacts , and arguing that "communication is bidirectional".

"When I was the leader of the opposition, I called the President of the Government many times on my own," he said in an interview on Cadena SER collected by Europa Press, recalling that in 2017 there was "a terrible political situation in Catalonia with a statement of independence and at all times the PSOE and I as leader of the opposition supported the president".

However, in this legislature, despite the pandemic first and the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine later, neither first Pablo Casado nor now Feijóo have provided "any kind of help" to the Executive, he maintained.

"For me it is a disappointment", he assured, denouncing that with the PP's rejection of the different measures and proposals proposed by the Executive, which has defended that they are "common sense", what is shown is that "Feijóo is quite docile with those interests that put him at the head of the PP".

In this sense, Sánchez has been particularly critical of the fact that when in March the Government negotiated with Portugal the 'Iberian exception' to lower the electricity bill, the PP went "hand in hand" with the large energy companies to Brussels to "thrive" and not get ahead.

However, after insisting that "trust is built and communication is two-way", the President of the Government has assured that he has "the telephone open for all political leaders, not only with the leader of the opposition but with the rest of the parliamentary groups.

In line with this, he has vindicated the government coalition's spirit of dialogue, given that it does not have a parliamentary majority and, in the face of criticism from his investiture partners for the lack of dialogue, he has stressed that "on some occasions the Government has to legislate by royal decree law".

It must be done this way, Sánchez said, "because we are facing situations as unprecedented as a pandemic or as the economic and social effects of Putin's war in Ukraine are now."

Likewise, he recalled that when the first aid package was presented against the consequences of the war, they criticized him for "being so late" because he had previously spoken with the autonomous communities, the affected sectors and the parliamentary groups.

"On many occasions times are difficult to measure but this is a government that is obliged to speak, to dialogue and to agree with other political forces," he admitted, assuring that he would also like to be able to do so with the PP. However, both before with Casado and now with Feijóo, the PP is installed in "a denialist and docile opposition with a series of interests."

"Things would be much easier if we had the main opposition party pitching in on common sense policies" but since this does not happen, the government is "forced to have to agree with other political forces", he stressed. "We do it out of responsibility and because it is our duty," she stressed.

Thus, with a view to the approval of the Budgets for 2023, Sánchez has ruled out that "there are many surprises" regarding the support that the Government will obtain. "I am not discovering America, (it will be) with the parliamentary groups that have been repeatedly supporting many of the important policies that we have been implementing."

As regards next year's municipal elections, Sánchez has avoided revealing whether any of the ministers will be a candidate. "We went out to win and for all and we do not give up any city, neither Madrid, nor Barcelona nor Valencia", he assured.

To do this, he added, it is necessary to "persuade" citizens of the benefits of having a socialist government that governs for the majority as opposed to a PP that does so only for the richest 5%. "We aspire to continue being the majority party in this country", concluded the President of the Government.