Interview with President of the Government of Spain on TVE

2020.9.7

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MÓNICA LÓPEZ: Good day, President of the Government.

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Good day.

MÓNICA LÓPEZ: Thank you very much for accepting our invitation in this term of office, and what a term of office for you to hold power…

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Yes, I was watching the pictures and the truth is that we have gone through some very intense times in just a couple of short years, such that these issues seem like they happened to me some 20 years.

QUESTION: The truth is that this is proving to be a complicated term of office, but it would seem that we have some good news, or at least Minister for Health Illa announced some good news, that we have a vaccine, a date for the vaccine in Spain in December. Now that we are in a scenario of co-governance with the regional governments, who will organise the procurement, for example, of these vaccines?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: It is the European Union that is doing this. The approach Europe is adopting is that relations with the large pharmaceutical companies are being conducted at an EU level so that access by citizens to these vaccines are not obstructed, that they are applied equally, and consequently, that all European citizens can be guaranteed to have a vaccine which ensures safety and provides a defence against COVID, which still remains a great unknown and an adversary, a mortal rival for the whole European population.

QUESTION: Does having a vaccine by December mean that we will have it here and it can start to be used?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Let's see, what we are doing now is firming up contracts with a range of pharmaceutical companies at a European level. All European citizens will have access and the contract that has now been signed is with AstraZéneca Oxford, which is the one with the clinical trials at the most advanced stage so far and we indeed hope that at the start, well, in the month of December, we will be able to begin vaccinating some people in our country.

And what did we do at the latest Conference of Regional Presidents? Well basically, what we have done is establish a working group, which will begin to work on Wednesday at the Inter-territorial Council where we will start to work on what population groups, what vulnerable groups, will receive this vaccine first. We hope that this will take place in the month of December.

QUESTION: I specifically wanted to ask you about that, because Minister Illa said that the work would start to be done at this weekend, that this weekend work would start on this, on who would receive the first vaccines…so is that still pending, to be started on Wednesday?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: We will start to establish that through the working group with the regional authorities as from Wednesday, but I think the horizon for a response from science, together with the knowledge that doctors already have on how to best treat the virus, and also to offer the greatest protection to healthcare professionals and raising as much individual awareness as possible, and, given the situation of the pandemic it will not be today, regardless of the fact that the spread continues to be comparable in terms of the numbers we had in March and April; but I stress that the characteristics are not the same as what we unfortunately suffered in the months of March and April.

QUESTION: In the situation we have, school is starting. Do you honestly think that parents will be calm with this?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Yes, absolutely. I feel that the work done by the education authorities, by the regional governments, and also by the Government of Spain, with the protocols and also the economic resources, so that more than 40,000 extra teachers can work at the more than 28,000 education centres in our country means that, without there ever being zero risk - because clearly there will be cases of infections - our children, their teachers and all the professionals that work at education centres can be assured that these centres will be safe.

QUESTION: Apart from parents' concerns over the risk of transmission, you also have the question of logistics. There is a dispute over whether parents that have to look after their children who have not tested positive but have to go into self-isolation will receive any form of support. And we have heard contradictory statements from some members of your government. Let's listen to them

(VÍDEO CLIP ON LEAVE TAKEN BY PARENTS)

QUESTION: Will they receive support or not?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: The government is always, and in fact we have been doing this since the start of the pandemic, open to dialogue with the social stakeholders. This has been the subject of dialogue with the social stakeholders, as have the Temporary Lay-off Plans, which see further negotiations today. And I would like to highlight the work being done by the government, which has not only assimilated the temporary incapacity of all those people who have children that have some form of infection and also, for example, some family member - a dependent relative - and hence, that can sign up to this leave on grounds of temporary incapacity. And at the start of the epidemic we also approved a plan, through the Ministry of Work, known as the "Me Cuida" Plan. This plan makes work more flexible up to 100% of the working day, precisely to cater for these family emergencies.

QUESTION: The thing is, firstly, the business organisation says that they cannot pay, that companies cannot pay for this leave, and school has now started.

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Let me stress that actions have already been taken by Central Government; in other words, any family that sees that any of its family members are infected can sign up to this leave, which has been recognised by the social security system since the start of the epidemic, and secondly, those people that have to deal with family needs as a result of this, such as where a family member needs to stay at home, can also sign up to this job flexibility scheme, which amounts to up to 100% of the working day, to deal with this family emergency.

QUESTION: In other words, this 100% flexibility may or may not be paid, so anyway… When do you plan to extend the ERTEs until?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, I think the first approach we took with the ERTEs has been very positive. Just look, these ERTEs have covered almost 3.5 million workers since the start of the pandemic, at the toughest times. Right now, those ERTEs linked to this pandemic, those on grounds of force majeure, account for some 700,000 workers, in very specific sectors, many of them related to the tourism sector, such as travel agencies, services that provide hotel accommodation; in short, I think that the ERTEs have been a successful experience that has meant we could protect workers, and consequently what we have is an extension according to the impact of the pandemic, and the measures that have been introduced to protect these jobs and also ensure that companies survive. What do we have to do now? This is the debate currently ongoing with the social stakeholders, above all to protect workers, but also to provide incentives to reinstate these workers in their jobs. In other words, not to let these companies fall into a sort of hibernation, which means that these jobs are shed at the end of this crisis.

QUESTION: Will you thus provide National Insurance exemptions for business owners?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, at this time the ERTEs imply a series of discounts for workers, but this is clearly the debate that is ongoing with the business organisations and trade unions. So, to answer your question, we are prepared to extend the duration of the ERTEs, but what we also clearly want to do is incentivise the reinstatement of these jobs.

QUESTION: And in the midst of all of this, on Thursday night, at an unearthly hour, we heard the announcement of the potential merger of Caixa Bank and Bankia. I must admit that many viewers have asked us the million-dollar question of whether the State will recover the more than 20 billion euros injected in Bankia of public money.

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Since the news was announced by the media, the value of Bankia has jumped by 33% on the stock market, in other words, this would seem to make business sense, and has been taken on-board well by the financial markets, and consequently this is one of the main aims of the Government of Spain, to defend the general interest, to defend and maximise the public holding in Bankia, and also clearly to provide stability and certainty to a sector - the financial sector - that, like many others as a result of this crisis, will have to address a restructuring process to become an even healthier sector than what we have now. Just look, we would be talking, if this merger finally takes place, since it is FROB that must decide on whether this merger goes ahead or not, about the leading bank in Spain, and the tenth in Europe. That is, from a point of view of its size, then the Spanish financial sector must clearly take steps forward.

QUESTION: But as regards the issue of recovering the 22 billion euros, to date only 3 billion have been recovered, and according to the share rise last week, the government's stake in Bankia has gone up from 2,000 to 3,000 shares, and hence we would be a long way from 22 billion…

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: We are a long way, let's say from the legacy we took on as a result of the bailout of the financial sector, and yet this is one of the pending issues, but clearly the goal of the Government of Spain is to maximise the public stake, defend the general interest and offer a very important sector for the economic recovery - the financial sector - stability. A much healthier sector but one that has clearly suffered from the pandemic, a sector that has also been greatly impacted by the digital transition, and which right now is going through a restructuring process not just from a labour point of view, but also in terms of branch offices and the territorial presence of banks that must be addressed by the financial sector. There is another aspect that in my opinion is also important in this operation, which is that of territorial cohesion. This operation, if it finally goes through, would affect a bank with a very significant presence in Catalonia, in Madrid, and also in the Region of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, and hence we are talking about an operation that has multiple perspectives and which, in my opinion, I stress, and for the sake of being scrupulous with time and above all with the procedure, because this is not down to the government but to FROB to give its opinion on the best outcome and the chance of success of this operation, I feel that it is an operation that has some very positive aspects.

QUESTION: President of the Government, going from holding more than 60% in Bankia to having, according to the experts and analysts, 15% of this new bank that would result from this merger, means moving away somewhat from the idea of public banking, because it would mean holding a very small stake. Taking into account that your government partner is a party where one of the values that it defends the most strongly is public banking and that it has complained of not being informed about the merger negotiations, is it right to complain? Has the party been informed?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: There are two things here. The first, in relation to public banking, is that I also advocate public banking. It is not just a question of one part of the left wing. I believe that the whole left wing is aware that if we want to focus on such an important sector as the financial sector then it is good to have a public presence. This public presence is guaranteed, for example, through the Official Credit Institute (Spanish acronym: ICO) which, in my opinion, truly means public banking. Just look at what the ICO has done in these important past months. We have made almost 100 billion euros available, not almost, exactly 100 billion. It might seem easy to say 100 billion to guarantee liquidity at the time of the pandemic for small- and medium-sized enterprises with almost 80% or 85% of the volume of loans out of 100 billion euros. And we are now going to free up a line with 40 billion euros to stimulate investment. What we have done to date is cushion the effects of the crisis due to the lockdown. And what we have to do now is reactivate the economy, and thus stimulate investment. And that is what the Official Credit Institute is doing. Secondly, if this Bankia merger finally takes place, it will have an important presence in certain vital sectors for our economy. La Caixa and Bankia have some major investments in some very important industrial sectors in our country, in our productive structure.

And lastly, as regards information. I can tell you that when the information was known was when the two financial institutions, two institutions that are listed on the stock market, decided to initiate the negotiation process for their merger. And this is very sensitive information. And this is information that those who became aware of it were the senior economic officials of the Government of Spain. No other member of the Government of Spain was aware of this, because clearly this information must remain confidential. And secondly, we must be well aware that the process has not concluded, and not because they have announced that this merger will go ahead. So, the State must firstly look at the conditions of this merger. If it is in our interest, then it will be to defend the stability of the financial sector, defend the general interest and also defend and maximise the public holding in this operation. But, I stress, I believe that the reception this has had from many perspectives, not just from a financial point of view, but also even from a territorial point of view, with this goal in mind of cohesion that this operation represents, seems to me to have some good points to become a positive operation for the Spanish economy.

QUESTION: Did you fear a leak from your government partner?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: No, I stress, no-one in the government knew about it.

QUESTION: Talking about the economy, let's continue with the economy, will the Budget be approved by the end of the year?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: I hope so. I think that last Monday, when I held a conference with business leaders, I said three things, I asked for three things, and I also feel all the listeners of Radio Nacional agreed with me. The pandemic has changed us. It has changed attitudes, our way of life, the way we understand social, economic and, why not, political relations as well.

We cannot act as we did before the pandemic and I believe that politics cannot turn its back on a reality change in the social psyche that must take place in politics. What is my proposal to politicians and parties? First, let's have a new political climate that backs unity and understanding, or at least try to. Secondly, I believe that we need to strengthen our public institutions. That is why I am saying to the People's Party that we must renew the General Council of the Judiciary and the Ombudsman.

And thirdly, I feel that it is very important to put party squabbling to one side to combat the common enemy we face, which is the virus, the pandemic. I feel that these three elements, these three proposals, ought to at least be, let's say, the features of this political term just starting. And in this regard, I would like for this Budget not just to be pushed through because it is necessary and pressing, but to be pushed through with the maximum support possible, and for it to be a progressive Budget, because this is a progressive, country-orientated coalition government. It should have the chance of forging cross-cutting agreements with other political forces.

QUESTION: Will the Budget be higher, as your government partner is asking for or lower, as Cs asks for?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Taxation, I imagine you mean. Let me give you several pieces of information. First of all, it is a fact that Spain collects less than the European Union average. Hence, we have a major problem in terms of tax collection. Secondly, it is a fact that this crisis has taught us something, which is that we must come out of it with a much stronger Welfare State, in terms of healthcare and science, for example, and education, now that our children are going back to school. And thirdly, it is a fact that the pandemic has meant that our Gross Domestic Product will fall this year, unlike for a great many years, by double digits, we calculate that by 10% of the Gross Domestic Product. Hence, what we must do is adjust our political and economic goals, such as by making a tax reform, which our country needs if we want to have a much stronger Welfare State given the economic situation of our country. I believe that the aim, both in terms of the Budget and economic policy, must be in the very short term, that is, for the next year, to ensure the economic recovery, job creation and not leave anyone behind, that is, social protection.

QUESTION. In order to manage to approve the Budget, if Ciudadanos and Podemos seem to be incompatible, as they have proven to be in recent years, would you be prepared to sacrifice your government partner to approve the Budget with the right wing?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: The government agreement remains in force, the coalition is strong and firm as regards its goals. We are two different political parties - the PSOE and Unidas Podemos, but we have an agreement which binds us, that we are committed to, and moreover, we are very hopeful of pushing the Budget through, and hence, what we want is for these agreements to be inclusive, and not exclusionary; in other words, we are looking beyond what ideological blocs may represent. I don't want to push through this Budget with 176 seats, which is the absolute majority to approve it; I would like to push it through with more, because I believe that it is also important to convey to our people that the political proposals of each party, regardless of their ideology, of the way each one understands the country or society, is more uniform, more heterogeneous from a territorial point of view, for example, regardless of all this that we have integrating and excluding policies. And of course, the government will make an effort, and work hard, to achieve the greatest cross-cutting agreement possible.

QUESTION: Talking about these agreements, the PDCAT, or at least four of its MPs are about to offer their approval, they are discussing this today, to help you push through the National Budget, to reach this agreement. Would you be willing to resume the idea of reforming the Criminal Code, specifically the criminal offence of sedition?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, this is one of the aims of the Government of Spain, this is a commitment, furthermore, that I announced in the investiture debate and which thus remains firm. I believe that we should take away many lessons from what happened with the wrongly named "procés", from the situation that now prevails among the leaders that are in prison, not just from the perspective of unlawful actions, but also from the emotional breakdown that this represents for part of Catalan society, and that we must be empathetic, sensitive and also look to Europe.

Europe, in some rulings, has clearly outlined the defects of our Criminal Code when we talk about this type of office; the ruling of the Supreme Court even refers to this, and hence the government's aim is to indeed maintain this. Our commitment is to update, modernise, revise, through an amendment to the Criminal Code, these criminal offences. This is a commitment from the investiture, and it is a commitment I maintain.

QUESTION: And the question I asked, do you have a date planned for the revision of the Criminal Code?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Not yet. The Ministry of Justice is working on this, but what I can say in response to your question is that my aim, my commitment, is clearly to tackle this amendment, this modernisation.

QUESTION: And so you have a date for the Dialogue Board in Barcelona?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: This week I will speak with Regional President Torra and I hope that we can hold it in the coming days.

QUESTION: Someone said they had heard the date of 17 September.

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, on 17 September, I understand, is when Mr Torra has his hearing in the Supreme Court, isn't it?

QUESTION: President of the Government, Covid has changed almost everything. Will you undertake a Cabinet reshuffle?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: No, I am happy with the coalition government. I have every confidence in each and every member of the coalition government. This is the first experience we have of a coalition government in Spain. This is also the first experience at a European level, not just in Spain, since the Second Republic, where two left-wing political parties have proposed a coalition government. It is true that there are others, for example, in Sweden and Denmark, which involve the participation of another left-wing party, either within or from outside, supporting the Social Democratic Government, and I believe that the experience is proving positive.

Just look, we not only have the proof of being the first coalition government in the history of the democracy, but also of having to manage this travesty, this calamity of the pandemic that humanity is suffering from.

QUESTION: My last question, the crisis of the monarchy. How is this affecting the government? Do you believe it is good for Spain that the emeritus King has gone away?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, I have my opinion. Clearly I am the President of the Government and I must be discrete in maintaining the confidentiality of the meetings I have with the Head of State, something I have clearly stated; I said this at a press briefing at Moncloa Palace. There is some information that is obviously worrying and disturbing, not only regarding the smooth functioning of our institutions, but also of the confidence that people may have in their institutions, and this is something that must be resolved. And this is being resolved, which is something I am grateful to the Head of State and the Royal Household for, which was done by putting distance between the parties and clearly saying no to the alleged unlawful conduct, in this case by the former Head of State, which is something that I thank the Royal Household for. Aside from that, the justice system must be allowed to work, and we must also acknowledge what the current Head of State is doing in terms of transparency and exemplary conduct.

And I, not just as the President of the Government but also as the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, which is the only party that remains which signed and was an architect of the Spanish Constitution, because others have changed name, such as the People's Party, what I can guarantee is that this constitutional agreement, which I understand as a whole, and not as parts, will clearly be defended and maintained by us.

QUESTION: Thank you very much, President of the Government. We will now move on to those speakers who want to ask the President of the Government a question. Over to you, Lucía.

LUCÍA MÉNDEZ:

Good day, President of the Government. Many Spanish people are asking us why this calamity has hit our country, Spain, particularly hard. Why do we have mortality rates and transmission rates that are among the highest in the world? And I ask you, do you assume any responsibility for managing this, personally and politically?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Of course, both personally and politically, It is true that there are some nuances to be made, in terms of mortality, which now stands at 6.5%, while it is true that at the toughest and most difficult times this stood at well above 12%, but there are European countries that have a much higher mortality rate than ours, that are double ours, and this is closely related to the capacity we now have to detect infections in our country.

I feel that it is true that we have very similar infection rates to what we had, for example, in April and in May, but it is also true that the hospitalisation rate and the rate of those in intensive care, as well as the mortality rate, whilst still dramatic, because whenever a fellow countryman dies it is dramatic, they are infinitely lower than the rates we saw in the months of March and April.

There are many reasons to explain this question. Some are related to the individual behaviour and conduct of certain groups. Let's remember that when the new outbreaks started this affected agricultural workers, seasonal workers, and we had to take specific actions which now seem to have controlled these groups; then we saw that these came from nightlife and family gatherings. So, I feel we need a call for caution, for individual responsibility, now more than ever.

But secondly, I feel that the regional governments are responsible right now for managing health, obviously with the help and coordination of Central Government, which is what we are doing, but clearly they must employ greater resources in all areas.

What has the government done? Well, there have been three phases: firstly, we approved a state of emergency from 14 March to 21 June. We adopted a sole command undertaken by the Government of Spain, through the Ministry of Health, which as from 22 June passed over to the regional governments, and what we are doing now is strengthening this cooperation, increasing material resources - you have the contact tracers of the armed forces; we have increased economic resources, you have the 16 billion euros in non-repayable funds that we have transferred to the regional governments; we have also stepped up the legal resources, there you have the proposal we made to the regional governments to propose a regional state of emergency depending on how the pandemic spreads; and there you also have, for the first time in the history of the democracy, two public health agreements proposed on a homogenous basis throughout the country, one related, for example, to what is happening today in our classrooms in the return to school, which is the work Central Government must do, while not replacing the regional governments, not going above the regional governments, but working at their side and behind them so that they can effectively fight this pandemic.

ENRIC JULIANA: In this country, we argue about everything at all hours of the day, but the priorities of the construction have not been argued now that the European plan has been approved and Spain has been allocated 170 billion euros. Why hasn't this been discussed and what criteria will be followed, what will the priorities be? And who will decide this?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, the criteria will be the economic recovery and the mass and immediate creation of jobs, and thirdly, the transformation of our economy. I believe that we are facing a great opportunity to take a leap in terms of the modernisation of our economy, and I believe that the digital transition, for example in the public administration, in justice, in education, in public health and in care for the elderly, above all those who are dependent, is an emergency.

Secondly, the ecological transition, which must be related to the efficient use of energies, the use of electric vehicles and not fossil fuel vehicles.

Thirdly, everything related to cohesion, not just social cohesion but also territorial cohesion. This crisis has the potential to enhance and exacerbate territorial differences. This is a government that believes in equal opportunities for all Spanish people, and hence territorial cohesion will be another of the perspectives we will give to this Recovery Fund, and then you have gender equality, because there are a great many women - half of the population - suffering more, are more affected and impacted by the effects of the crisis.

The pandemic has clearly done what? It means that many women have not only lost their jobs but also have to care for children and dependent relatives. These four pillars - the ecological transition, the digital transition, territorial and social cohesion and gender equality - explain the political levers we will employ to modernise our economy.

It is clear that Spain needs a huge programme to reform houses, not just at an energy level, but also as regards accessibility, for a great many elderly people who cannot go out of their homes as a result because they live on the fourth floor of a building without a lift.

Well, these are the things that we will develop thanks to the Recovery Plan we approved in July in Brussels.

DANIEL BASTEIRO: Good day, President of the Government. Can you count on the four MPs that do not stand with [Carles] Puigdemont in his new party regarding the Budget? Has your government been in touch with them? And how will we spend so long discussing the Budget - I understand that you want to understand them quickly, both in time and in form - but what happens if this doesn't take place.

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, I haven't even put myself in that position, Daniel. I can tell you that in all honesty. For me it is unimaginable that the Budget, which is the main weapon, the main instrument we have to ensure the economic recovery of our country, to guarantee the social cohesion of our country, doesn't find the support of a majority in the Lower House of Parliament. And secondly, we will clearly get in touch with all the parliamentary groups, and if this breakaway takes place in the end, of these four MPs, in this case of PDeCAT, then I stress, our goal, our ambition, will be to achieve a parliamentary majority that exceeds these 176 seats. I believe that this is what this country needs and demands, regardless of the political projects of each party, that we makes inclusive proposals and projects at a time of extraordinary difficulty and complexity. I have even heard the People's Party say that I cannot approve the Budget because the main opposition party never approves the National Budget. Well, we have never suffered from a pandemic before. So, I feel that we must all make an effort, as I said before, to change the political climate, to place the general interest and the common good first in unprecedented circumstances for the country and for humanity. And indeed, recover, let's say, over the coming years, this more traditional political dialectic that we have seen over these 40 years of democracy. But I feel that now, we should put these party interests to one side and place the general interest first. And that is what the Government of Spain will do.

ANA PARDO DE VERA: Good day, President of the Government Sánchez. An abolitionist government. How will you address the issue of prostitution that has shown itself in its crudest form in this pandemic, and what reinsertion and protection measures do you plan for women who are prostituted?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, this forms part of the government agreement. Of course, on this matter, the Socialist Party is very clear: we want to abolish prostitution. Unfortunately, ours is a country that suffers from human trafficking, and which, above all, suffers from women who are trafficked to be enslaved and prostituted out. And this is one of the matters pending for our country to resolve. Of course, the commitment of the Government of Spain is clear and the approach the Socialist Party makes is for its abolition. But, at any event, we hope, since we clearly have 155 seats, to be able to reach a cross-cutting agreement in the Lower House to finally resolve, in the end, this social scourge that many women suffer from who are trafficked in our country.

MÓNICA LÓPEZ: President of the Government, two very quick questions. What is your assessment of the latest turns in the Kitchen Case?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, I, as President of the Government, obviously cannot give my opinion on this matter. We must respect the work of the justice system. I will say that of course this belongs to a dark period in our country, to former government eras. But indeed, we hope that the justice system shows some light on this matter, on this case, which is very concerning and very serious in the functioning of our democracy.

QUESTION: And can you confirm for me, as published in 'El País', that [Pablo] Casado promised you to renew the governing body of the General Council of the Judiciary, the Ombudsman and the Board of Directors of Spanish public television…?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Well, I won't go into detail in this kind of information, but I can confirm for you that there was indeed contact in the month of August. I can also confirm that this contact was fruitful in terms of agreements at about 99%, and that then the People's Party inexplicably broke off these agreements in August, which is something you will need to ask the People's Party about.

What I feel is that the institutions in our country need, at a time like this, with the health, economic and social emergency, an extra dose of legitimacy and I stress that the Genera Council of the Judiciary will have worked in an acting capacity in November for two years. The Ombudsman has also worked in an acting capacity since 2017. And by November or December of this year, the governing body of the Constitutional Court will also have been operating in an acting capacity for a year, and hence the People's Party, which so loves to talk about the Constitution, must respect and comply with the whole Constitution and not block the renewal of such important institutions for the functioning of our country and our democracy.

QUESTION: Let me ask you about this matter, about the renewal of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Radio and Television Corporation, which needs this consensus. If it doesn't receive it, do you have a Plan B?

PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT: Yes. I have spoken with all the parliamentary groups over the course of last week, and urged all of them, given that the People's Party is resolute in its blockade, to exclude themselves from any form of consensus and we will structure parliamentary majorities that allow this blocking of institutions to be overcome.

As regards the Board of Directors of the Spanish Radio and Television Corporation, it is clear that the legal services have issued a report that provides for a solution to the current blockade through channels that have also been proposed by some participants in this public tender that was set in motion more than a year ago, and we hope that this will be resolved in the coming months.

Clearly the Government of Spain will not accept any blockade of institutions and will appeal for an alternative parliamentary majority to unblock bodies that do not deserve to be blocked by one political party which, I stress, still has not accepted the election results.

And the Spanish people clearly stated their preference on five occasions last year.

Hence, I believe that the party should accept the election results and that if it sells itself as a State party, it should allow institutions to be renewed, which helps and strengthens democracy in our country.

At a time, I stress, that is as difficult and delicate such as Spain is going through at this time.

QUESTION: For the workers at this corporation, this renewal is important. Thank you very much for accepting this invitation. This is their home, and the home of all Spanish people.

(Transcript edited by State Secretariat for Communication)

Non official translation