In an extensive interview to Euskadi Irratia, Lehendakari Imanol Pradales discussed a wide range of topics, starting with those at the top of the political agenda. With regard to the CAV budget negotiations, he has asked EH Bildu for “concrete actions”.
“The current challenges require that the contributions of the opposition parties to the budgets are captured.” These are the words of the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradalesafter reiterating that the Basque government does not need the support of the opposition parties to implement next year’s budgets. He assures that the Vitoria-Gasteiz executive is committed to “listening and honestly analyzing” the contributions of all groups.
In the context of the budget negotiations, the Minister of Finance and Finance of the Basque Government, Noël D’Anjou, after meeting yesterday with representatives of Sumar and the PP, will today receive the representatives of EH Bildu. It is precisely this last group that has addressed the Lehendakari and asked them to adopt the same attitude that they maintained during the negotiations on the budgets of the Foral Government of Navarre.
In that regard, he has recognized a sense of “distrust” toward EH Bildu as a result, he said, of “the different political cultures” that the Yeltzales and nationalist left have maintained in recent decades. “To overcome this takes time and reaching agreements on small things.” Nevertheless, the Lehendakari sees ‘opportunities for consensus’ with the coalition, if it ‘acts the same in its positions and content’ in both spaces (CAV and Navarra). For example, he asked EH Bildu whether “the budgetary kilo has the same value in Pamplona and Vitoria” and asked him to “move from words to concrete initiatives.”
Tax reform
Pradales, interviewed in Euskadi Irratia (listen to the full interview here), also referred to the tax reform agreed between the PNV and PSE-EE, which requires the support of a third power in both Álava and Gipuzkoa. Taking into account “the content” of the reform, it is “difficult to justify a refusal” of “measures that promote the acquisition or purchase of housing for young people or support for businesses”.
Statute of Gernika
On the other hand, when asked about the statements made by the General Secretary of the PSE-EE, Eneko Andueza, regarding port transfers, he stated that “they do not impose conditions” on the Basque government, which is “clear about the route and it is shared .” “We know what Andueza is like, it must always look for a point of difference from the outside (…) The road map is clear in the coalition agreement and that is where we want to go,” he said.
He also believes that “in the historical moment we are living in” there is “a real opportunity” to advance national construction and “reach a consensus to lay the foundation between the three main parties (PNV, EH Bildu and PSE -EE).”
With regard to the renewal of the Statute, he indicated that “the first contacts are being conducted discreetly” and that he “has shown hope”. He recalled that the government’s agreement with the Socialists includes “recognition as a nation, the bilaterality of the relationship with the state and a system of guarantees” that “must be an expression of the will of the people” through a “referendum.”
Pradales hopes to meet at the end of this month to discuss these and other issues with the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, who postponed the meeting between the two leaders after the crisis in Valencia.
health pact
Regarding the health pact, the Lehendakari has rejected that his government’s actions on this issue represent “a change in the whole” from what was done in the previous legislature and has emphasized that his team “has analyzed the situation to see where the problems?
In addition to solving current problems, he has emphasized the need to look at the long term as “we will have to transform the axis of the healthcare system”. In this sense, he has mentioned the “population aging process” as a factor to be taken into account.
Likewise, he has applauded the work of all officers participating at the table and expressed confidence that the ‘cooperation’ maintained thus far will be maintained. “That is our area of work and our goal.”
DANA
On the other hand, Pradales has today considered the political confrontation that has broken out as a result of the DANA that shook Valencia two weeks ago as “painful” and has stressed the importance of assuming “leadership” in times of crisis. In this sense, he recalled the management leadership that the then Lehendakari Carlos Garaikoetxea had assumed in the BAC during the 1983 floods, in collaboration with the provincial councils and the Spanish government.
Likewise, he explained that after what happened in Valencia “the Basque government’s alarm systems will be reviewed” to know “how they can be improved”. He has also deemed it necessary to do “pedagogy” on this subject in society.
Basque
Finally, Pradales expressed concern about the latest rulings against the Basque language that directly affect public administration, although he also believes that the “main challenge of the Basque language” “lies outside the administration”. “We must focus on schools, the world of work, the media or leisure, and make a qualitative leap in these areas,” he clarified.
To do this, he considers it essential to “go beyond the political consensus” and advocates concluding agreements with agents working in favor of the Basque Country, but also with agents outside that space. “If we don’t have that bond, the problem is serious,” he concluded.
Source: EITB
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
