The PP explodes against Vox and accuses it of lack of discretion over the budgets

PalmaThe peaceful meeting last Friday between the first vice-president, Antoni Costa, and the parliamentary spokesperson for Vox, Manuela Cañadas, to begin negotiating the spending ceiling, turned into a head-on collision this Tuesday in Parliament. The reason? Costa reproached Cañadas for having broken the discretion he had asked of her regarding the talks during the control session in Parliament. "We demand total discretion in the negotiations," he snapped. "We did not expect this, we are beginning to think that the PP does not want to approve these budgets," sources from Vox told ARA Balears. Afterwards, the two spokespeople held a brief discussion off-microphone.

The clash took place when Cañadas asked a parliamentary question to Costa, who is also the Minister of Economy and Finance. "Are you willing to fulfill the agreements you have pending with Vox before starting new negotiations?", she asked. "A given word must be worth something", insisted Cañadas, in an allusion to the legislature's motto of President Marga Prohens. "Vox has proven to be a responsible and constructive partner when needed, but we will not sign blank checks", she continued.

"If you want an agreement with us for the spending ceiling, set a binding compliance calendar and assume our priorities", insisted Cañadas. She placed on the table the "national priority", the "tax exemptions on access to first housing and the simplification of new construction licenses" and the fight against squatting. She also requested to "cut ideological spending" and to put an "end to subsidies for foreign spending", in addition to "essential services and aid to the primary sector". "Fulfill what has been signed, focus public spending on what is necessary and you will find a serious interlocutor", she concluded.

What the Vox spokesperson did not expect was Costa's forceful response. "This Government is working to reach an agreement and approve the budgets, but we will demand three conditions", he pointed out. Thus, he enumerated as a first condition the "total discretion in the negotiations: today this was not fulfilled much". Subsequently, he warned that he will only negotiate "strictly budgetary measures, and not unrelated issues: we will not cross our red lines", in reference to linguistic issues, among others. Finally, he demanded "an agreement that links both the spending ceiling and the budgets": "The spending ceiling will not be debated if there is no agreement on the budgets first, because last year impossible demands were made". "We hope that Vox has high standards and assumes its responsibility", he sentenced.

When the control session ended, Cañadas headed to Costa's seat and they exchanged a few words. As ARA Balears has learned, the spokesperson asked him for explanations regarding his harsh tone and he was particularly annoyed by the fact that Cañadas had put the party's demands on the table, without conveying them behind closed doors. There are only a few months left until the end of the legislature and the agreement for the budget is becoming complicated again within the Government.