The break between Vox and the PP in the Government of Aragon has not remained, as far as parliamentary activity is concerned, a matter of image. In fact, it threatens to become a permanent headache for the regional president, Jorge Azcón. A key point of the current legislature is on the horizon: the approval of the spending ceiling first and then the 2025 budget.
On Wednesday, at the meeting of the spokespeople, the far-right formation completed its break and effectively began to actively carry out its opposition work. The leader of Vox in Aragon and spokesperson in the Chamber, Alejandro Nolasco, joined his voices with those of the rest of the parties represented in the aforementioned body to give the green light to a new proposal for the configuration of the plenary sessions, so that the government and the people reduce their quota in the initiatives that they can present.
Even the PAR, represented in the regional executive by eight senior officials, did not support the PP, abstaining in the face of popular rejection.
Likewise, the far-right party aligned itself with the opposition and rejected four of the five non-legislative proposals (PNL) that the PP intended to present in plenary session next Thursday.
The position adopted by Vox caused surprise among the popular ranks, according to those present at the meeting of spokespeople.
On Thursday, Nolasco justified his votes and outlined the opposition that now awaits President Azcón: “Let us remember, among other things, that Parliament is the house of the opposition. The PP wanted to present five non-legislative proposals, something that even minority groups could not achieve,” he said. And he considered that the intention of the popular people is to “monopolize all power and silence dissent.”
Regarding the new deadline, the leader of Vox-Aragón considered that it is a “fair, proportional and objective distribution based on representativeness.” “But the PP does not think it is good and that is why it says that Vox is with the PSOE,” he lamented.
From the Aragonese PP, they limit themselves to showing this newspaper their rejection of the position adopted by the extreme right formation and explain that they have proposed to the legal services of the Cortes the preparation of a report, because they consider that the times agreed upon during the meeting of the spokesmen violate what is reflected in the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber.
Now, dark prospects are opening up for the party alone at the head of the government. The main touchstone will logically be the regional budget and, first of all, the vote on the spending ceiling. If Vox joined its votes with those of the opposition and the accounts decreased, Azcón would be forced to extend them without even having reached the second full year of his mandate. In fact, Nolasco himself has already threatened to do so if the Aragonese president does not oppose the transfer of migrants to Aragon.
Beyond that, the popular group will be forced to negotiate individually each initiative that it aspires to have approved before the regional courts, with all the wear and tear that this entails. The far-right formation would have the power to toughen the measures proposed by the popular.
It was last July that Vox broke with the PP in the regional executive. It did so by failing to convince Azcón’s government to oppose the arrival of migrant minors in the community. “It’s a mistake,” Azcón himself later said.
Vox has thus created an unprecedented situation in Aragonese politics, leaving a coalition and leaving the Popular Party in the minority. It should be remembered that in Aragon, and given the usual absence of strong majorities, the government is most often formed by two or more parties.
The formation that has usually given its support to the PP or the PSOE has been the PAR, which, although during these governments it has repeatedly used threats of rupture to obtain new power plots, has never managed to carry out its plans. However, Vox has barely lasted twelve months in the Executive.
