Responses from Acting President of the Government at government control session

Lower House of Parliament, Madrid

RESPONSE FROM ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT, PEDRO SÁNCHEZ, TO A QUESTION FROM PABLO CASADO, OF THE PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENTARY GROUP

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Mr. Casado.- Thank you, Madam Speaker,

Mr Sánchez, you didn't need any saddlebags to make this trip. You have been wanting to go to the polling stations since the very beginning. And you have toyed with the Spanish people over these last five months. That is why you haven't sought any agreement with any party in this House, and have dealt with the opposition with your usual aloofness. You have manipulated the institutions in a vulgar manner; you have gagged this Parliament for half a year and used royal decrees for electoral gains. The public television station yesterday found out about the elections before the King and you even abused Moncloa Palace, where you gave your first electoral show yesterday.

At least you acknowledged something: that there is an economic slowdown, that the situation with the pro-independence movement could get worse and that there are serious uncertainties. And what do you offer in response to all that? The most fatuous inability, stately inaction, a sugar-coated nothing.

On economic matters, what you do is offer a massive tax hike, because you have the worst unemployment figures in the last decade. On territorial matters, you seek an alliance with Esquerra Republicana and with Junts per Catalunya on public institutions instead of allying with the People's Party and banning pardons when the Supreme Court hands down its rulings.

And in Navarre you propose to them to withdraw an appeal against the unconstitutional nature of reprehensible police abuse instead of letting the pro-constitutional forces govern.

Mr Sánchez, someone that isn't even capable of managing their own investiture will find it very hard to manage a country like Spain.

With what authority do you ask to be re-elected when you only received the support of the 227 MPs you needed to convince in this House? In the end, how can you say, after having rejected two investiture agreements from the right and from the left, that you want to once again receive the confidence of the Spanish people? Because we've caught you out, Mr Sánchez. You even had a trip planned to New York when you were supposedly going to have been fighting for the second investiture session. And in the end, you intend to be invested by running out of electoral options, which is highly irresponsible.

Out of thousands of local and regional governments that have been formed since April, the only one that has failed has been yours, because you have betrayed everyone and shown that you are not trustworthy. With the PP, you made a pact on Article 155, and then presented a vote of no confidence. With Ciudadanos, you made a pact regarding the investiture in 2015 and now you don't even sit down to talk with them. With Podemos, you made a pact regarding the Budget and now you try and humiliate them. You seek to be proclaimed president of the government by a miracle, like the saints, but remember that elections bring the devil down.

So you now have what you wanted, but the People's Party will rise to the occasion to recover the path from this political stalemate and through economic recovery. And we will also recover national unity and, above all, recover the course of a nation that is too big for you.

Thank you.

President of the Government.- Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.

Look, Mr Casado, on 28 April the Spanish people, after seven years of a People's Party administration, with cuts and social injustice, watching leaders of the People's Party pass before the Supreme Court one by one, trying to respond to the cases of corruption that were rife in your party, the lack of exemplary conduct during the seven years of government of the People's Party, with social injustices, corruption, and also tension in the way of carrying our politics, clearly voted for a progressive government that did not depend on the pro-independence forces. On 26 May, they did the same again, Mr Casado.

What has happened here, Mr Casado, is that you haven't even taken responsibility for the election results on 28 April. What has happened, here, Mr Casado, is that a leading political force won the elections and tried to form a government, while three political forces have tried to block the formation of the only government possible in this country. It's as simple as that, Mr Casado. As simple as that.

Look, Mr Casado, Spain needs stability, moderation and a progressive government. That is what Spain needs, Mr Casado, not a stalemate. You, instead of taking responsibility as a party with a sense of State that has shared power over the last 40 years with the Socialist Party and facilitating the formation of the only government possible in this country, at a critical time, moreover, with the ruling on the pro-independence trials imminent in the coming months, with a slowdown in the economy, and with the handling of Brexit, what you have decided to do is, as a result of your lack of a sense of State, and with the irresponsibility of Mr Rivera, and with the dogmatism of Mr Iglesias, look what you have done, Honourable Member.

That is the problem, Mr Casado, when you are in the opposition you do not recognise the legitimacy of the Socialist Party to govern this country. But let me tell you one thing, Mr Casado, on 10 November, since we are going to be forced, once again, to go to the polling stations, I hope that the Spanish people give an even greater majority, if indeed possible, to the Socialist Party so that you, you, Mr Rivera and Mr Iglesias, are unable to once again block the formation of a government, which is what Spain needs.

RESPONSE FROM ACTING PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT, PEDRO SÁNCHEZ, TO A QUESTION FROM RUFIÁN ROMERO, FROM THE REPUBLICAN LEFT PARLIAMENTARY GROUP

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Mr. Rufián.- Thank you very much, Madam Speaker,

Mr Sánchez, what is you design for Catalonia? Thank you very much.

President of the Government.- Thank you, Madam Speaker,

My design for Catalonia is the same as I have for Extremadura, for Andalusia, for Castile-La Mancha, for Castile and Leon, for the Basque Country, for Galicia, for the Region of Valencia, for the Balearic Islands and for the Canary Islands… in short, for each and every territory in our country. And let me tell you something else, Mr Rufián, it is the same political design that I have for the country as a whole. And this is based on two fundamental questions; the first is the recovery of social justice, because this is a country that has suffered from a great deal of social inequality, and hence, guarantee equal opportunities and rights in each and every corner of our country.

Secondly, fight corruption and also foster exemplary conduct in the exercise of public office after seven years of corruption, which has swamped the political life of our country.

And thirdly, put social tension behind us and commit to co-existence, harmony, within the Constitution and the law.

Mr. Rufián.- I thank you for your honesty, Mr President of the Government, because basically your design is "let's see who has the largest flag" with regard to the PP and Ciudadanos.

Mr Sánchez, how do you think people went to bed last night? Pleased? Excited about going to vote on 10 November? Knowing full well what went on here, distinguishing between one and another, offering ministerial portfolios, with vetoes, rigged ballots… How do you think people went to bed last night? I am not a political scientist but I think that people are fed up with us, with all of us.

You have shown you are to negotiations what Vox is to feminism. And that is your irresponsibility.

You, Mr Sánchez, in the last 24 hours, have tried to forge an agreement with those who call us a "gang". You have tried to forge a pact with the right wing that promised to put the brakes on. And you, Honourable Members from Podemos, you have been for months, for weeks, right where you wanted to be: on the TV screens, complaining. Rightly so, but where you wanted to be. We are going to be put where you want us to be. I say that loud and clear. We asked a question during the campaign, what PSOE will we find? What Mr Sánchez will we find? Now we know, Article 155. And I say this with regret.

The stronger you are, the closer you get to the right wing. You have lost an historic opportunity.

You said yesterday, Mr Sánchez, that you had tried "by all means". That is literal. If you tell the truth you are incompetent. If you lie, you are negligent and irresponsible. The only obstacle to you getting closer to the right in November, whether you like it or not, is this parliamentary group - Esquerra Republicana de Cataluña. We will be back, and we will be stronger.

Thank you very much.

President of the Government.- In the investiture debate, Mr Rufián, I thanked Esquerra Republicana publicly, moreover, I did that here, in the Lower House, for facilitating, by abstaining, the formation of a government in Spain. Because it seems to me that, in fact, this countered the vision, at least, of governability, in this case, in Spain, that was very different to that of the People's Party and of Ciudadanos. Hence, I once again thank you.

But you and I, Mr Rufián, have little else in common: or Esquerra Republicana with the Socialist Party. Little else. You advocate the independence of Catalonia, we advocate co-existence in Catalonia.

I have always found it very striking that a party that calls itself left wing, like Esquerra Republicana, advocates the independence of a wealthy region, among other questions, because you say that it pays too much to the poorer regions of Spain. And that is one of the big differences between you and us.

I will tell you something else, Mr Rufián. Look, we are going to defend the Constitution. And what I said to Mr Rivera yesterday is that if there is a constitutionalist party in this country, and in this political system, then it is the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. We will always advocate, Mr Rufíán, dialogue, negotiation, agreement and co-existence. That is what we advocate in Catalonia and throughout the country. But don't get me wrong, Mr Rufián, if the Regional Government of Catalonia makes any attempt to violate the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and the Spanish Constitution again, the Socialist Parliamentary Group and the Socialist Government will apply any article of the Constitution to defend the Constitution, the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, the law, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat for Communication)

Non official translation