May someone approve the budgets for the PP, please

PalmaThe state elections of November 29th have altered the traditional political calendar, but there are customs that endure. The end of autumn is the season for trench coats, fresh air, spending ceilings, and budgets. And that is where the Government finds itself, with the accounts for 2027. However, the atmosphere is not one of excitement, if we are to use one of those words that politicians love to say so much. I do not know a single one who has not been very excited at some point in their political career. Excitement is the fuel for legislative and executive dreams. What is perceived these days is annoyance. The PP Government is not very happy. The reason? Neither the partners from Vox nor the left are keen on pushing forward budgets that, like every year, are historic, record-breaking, with fireworks. Lower taxes, more spending, a party for the people here that the other parties do not know how to appreciate.

"We saw signs at the plenary session that make us worried. For the left, it seems that [the budgets] have nothing to do with them. Neither the PSOE nor the left want to know anything about it; they are disassociating themselves from the approval and from items that are there for improvement. And Vox was setting conditions publicly," lamented PP deputy spokesperson on Wednesday, Marga Duran, regarding this misfortune. How dare the left not support right-wing budgets? Where has such audacity been seen before? "Experience tells us that, every time Vox has wanted to reach agreements, it has been done discreetly, calmly, and over weeks. Every time Vox has started by setting preconditions, in the end, they have been excuses for not approving what we had in hand," she added, in addition to calling on the entire parliamentary arc, because it is time to be men and women of State and to support the PP without arguing a single comma: "We once again ask for responsibility from all groups".

What are these conditions from Vox that are posing a serious obstacle in the path of the 2027 accounts? The spokesperson for the far-right, Manuela Cañadas, explained them in Tuesday's plenary session. And it is not very bold to say that they are no surprise, nor very technical, nor concrete, and that they are broad enough to fit into the Executive's calculations. Furthermore, they are the ones that Vox has defended throughout the legislature: "One, national priority: not a single resource or subsidy for those who have just arrived outside the law while a single family in the Balearic Islands remains unattended"; "two, housing: tax exemptions for the first home, simplification of new construction licenses and zero tolerance for squatters"; "three: cuts to ideological spending: end of foreign cooperation subsidies while there are compatriots who are in need and scissors to superfluous spending". Simply, the usual demands of the far-right. Perhaps what bothered the Government the most was that Cañadas also demanded a compliance calendar for agreements that, according to Vox, the Executive still has pending.

At this point it must be explained, and regular viewers of the plenary sessions would agree, that the spokesperson for the far-right stands out for her vehemence, which is nothing other than a mild way of saying 'aggression'. For this reason, what Cañadas did not expect was the dressing-down that followed. "This Government will work to reach an agreement [...]. That said, we will demand three very clear conditions. The first is total discretion in the negotiations. I must confess, Ms. Cañadas, that today I believe this has not been met very well," criticized Costa. They say that at this point there are still deputies wondering what Vox's indiscretion was. "Two, negotiate strictly budgetary measures and not extraneous things. In no case will we cross red lines," he continued. "Three, negotiate an agreement that links both the spending ceiling and the budgets. The spending ceiling will not be debated and voted on in this Parliament if an agreement to address the 2027 budgets is not reached first," he added with the tone of a councillor very sure of himself.

"What an incentive to negotiate, gentlemen of Vox!", exclaimed the PSIB spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, before asking his question to the vice president. It would have been good if he could have asked it to President Marga Prohens, but she was immersed in the Government's containment strategy, promoting tourism at the World Travel Market in London. "People see that you do not want to reach any agreement, they see that you want to blackmail the entire Parliament, to see if they approve some budgets for you. But you are not capable of providing solid measures for the people who are having a hard time," the socialist reproached Costa.

The negotiations will continue after the general elections with all these rules and red lines. Forbidden to talk about anything other than numbers, just in case Vox asks again for the extinction of Catalan. Forbidden to approve only the spending ceiling, as that is an indivisible pack like yogurts. Forbidden to talk to anyone. Forbidden to communicate anything, just in case the citizens find out something ahead of time. Allowed to obey, of course. Because that always goes well.