Words from Acting President of the Government at entrance to Lower House

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

First of all I would like to say to you that, as we announced this morning, we will hold meetings with the different parliamentary groups next week. As of next week, because on Tuesday we will present the document with our proposals.

What I would firstly like to do is thank all the social stakeholders for all their support, all their help and all the dialogue we have had with them over the course of August because this shows that we have a living civil society, a civil society that wants to see a government get to work and respond to many of the questions, many of the demands, many of the problems, facing the people of Spain.

What we have done over this month of August is open up a dialogue process with these organisations. We will work this weekend on finalising the proposal of more than 300 measures that we will bring before the different parliamentary groups. I must confess that I am hopeful because the proposal will be progressive, ambitious, reformist, transforming, modernising for our country and respond to the three main issues that our country must provide a response to.

One is how to tackle inequality, two is how to create opportunities for those who do not have them, and three is how to modernise our economy to guarantee sustained growth. Aside from that, we will talk with the different parliamentary groups because in the end our citizens were very clear when they voted on 28 April. They want a government formed by the Socialist Party, they want a progressive government, but they don't want the governability of Spain to depend on the pro-independence forces, who wish to see the break-up of the Spanish State, to which end what I call for is simply responsibility, generosity and a certain forward thinking from all the political forces so that we are not forced to call fresh elections on 23 September, but rather form a government.

I believe that the Spanish people deserve this.

Clearly the Government of Spain and the Socialist Party are working on this. I would like the rest of the political forces to do the same and I call them, as from next week, to place the general interest first, the interests of Spain, over and above the interests of each political party; I believe that this is worthwhile. Thank you.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)

Non official translation