Compromís spokesman in Les Corts, Joan Baldoví, warned that his coalition would not support “any singularity” in terms of regional financing or the General State Budgets (PGE) for 2025 if the government did not approve a levelling fund for the Valencian Community.
“Wake up,” he told the vice-president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, to carry it out and the “president” of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, to demand it.
Baldoví explained, when questioned by journalists, that this is the position of Compromís regarding the agreement between the PSC and the ERC that provides for single funding for Catalonia, while stressing that there have still been no contacts with the government for the PGE 2025.
“We will vote in favour of the single financing of Catalonia if the single financing of Valencia is also addressed. In no case will we vote for a singularity if the singularity of those of us who are the least well financed is not taken into account. It is incomprehensible that a progressive government approves an agreement with a community and that the problem of those who are the least well financed is not solved,” he said, assuring that he “does not care” whether it is called an economic agreement or a quota agreement because that is what he wants, they are “solutions”.
As he explained, Compromís is in favour of “all bilateral agreements reached by the autonomous communities”, but we must not “turn our necks towards Catalonia” and we must focus on the problems of the Valencians.
This is why he reiterated that the Government must address “once and for all” a levelling fund that is equivalent to the State funding received by the Valencian Community compared to the average of the autonomies. “We will not approve any new system if ours is not addressed,” he warned, adding that this would be a requirement in the negotiations on the PGE.
After stressing that “it is a question of political will”, Baldoví stressed that “the PSOE should wake up” and Montero “stop doing what (Cristóbal) Montoro -former Finance Minister of the PP–“. “Air, time cannot pass and this problem can be postponed again and again. Air towards Mazón but also air towards the Government”, he added, recalling that Compromís had supported the investiture of Pedro Sánchez with the commitment that Valencian financing would be addressed.
Valencians first and then Sumar
As for whether Compromís will distance itself from the votes on this issue in the Congress of Sumar, a parliamentary group to which they belong, he indicated that in his “agreement” with those of Yolanda Díaz, the “first” thing is the interest of the Valencians: “We are addressing those who voted for us. And we have always said it clearly.
Addressing Mazón, also leader of the PPCV, Baldoví urged him to adopt and support the “fair treatment law” in financing that Compromís has presented to the Corts Valencianes to present to Congress. A law, he recalled, that contemplates a new financing system, the historical debt of the Community and the leveling fund.
The government is in ‘enviable’ health
In general, when asked about the future of the PSOE-Sumar government, he said that “against the disastrous forecasts of (Alberto Núñez) Feijóo and the Popular Party, this parliamentary majority enjoys enviable good health, because the State and the PP continue to govern. “It is still in opposition.”
“We have seen that this government can lose votes, that this majority can vary, but I sincerely believe that it is worth waking up, to solve the problem of financing, because it is worth having a progressive majority in the Spanish State,” he insisted.
