Although he became a protagonist in national politics due to his constant clashes with Pedro Sánchez, Emiliano García-Page thinks about Castilla-La Mancha in the long term.
This is what we can deduce from what the sources of the government of Castile-La Mancha have put forward in the run-up to the debate on the state of the region which will be held this Tuesday October 15 and Wednesday October 16 in an autonomous Parliament where the socialists have an absolute majority.
“As he said as soon as he won the last election, has had a regional project for eight years“, they assure from those close to Page, while recognizing that his intervention in the debate will reveal a “regional project inseparable from the moment in which national politics takes place”.
That is to say, Page will again be predictable in the sense of “defending the interests of Castilla-La Mancha by defending, perhaps more than ever, the unity, equality and cohesion of Spain“.
“This will clarify what our funding model is and, even more clearly, What is the funding model that we will not accept?“, they add in reference to the refusal of Castilla-La Mancha that Catalonia has unique and privileged financing negotiated bilaterally with the government, something that Page has already said to Pedro Sánchez during his recent visit to Moncloa.
No time limit
The president of Castile-La Mancha will open the debate this Wednesday at 10 a.m. with an intervention without time limit in which he “will establish a diagnosis of the current state of the region, and will advance the main challenges and projects in the short, medium and long term“.
“As per usual, will raise announcements and news in all areas: employment, state of well-being, water, energy, town planning and housing”, argues their government.
During the last debate on the state of the region, that of 2022 – in 2023 the election year did not take place – Page addressed the parliamentarians during neither more nor less than four and a half hours. Although he may scale down his speech somewhat this Tuesday, he expects it to be long and take up the entire morning until lunchtime.
When the head of the Regional Executive has finished, it is expected that the president of the Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha, the socialist Pablo Bellido, will suspend his work for approximately an hour and a half or two hours. Once resumed in the afternoon, it will be the turn of the parliamentary groups.
The leaders of the PP and Vox, Paco Núñez and David Moreno will respectively have a speaking turn of 30 minutes each.. Page will be able to respond without time limit. Then there is another round of interventions, with 15-minute responses for each group and corresponding responses from the CEO, if he decides.
Single face to face
Thus, the Debate on the State of the Region is the only parliamentary face-to-face between the president of the Council of Communities and the leader of the opposition, since Page is not directly subject to House control because she is not legally obligated. Something that the PP wants to correct and requested it, with the approval of the PSOE, during the negotiations that the two parties held to begin the reform of the Autonomy Statute.
In other words, it will be the first parliamentary visit of Page and Núñez to the Cortés since 2022. The “popular” has already warned that the socialist management of Page, who has been autonomous president for almost a decade, is “deficient” and constitutes “a wall” for the development of the region.
Paco Núñez, president of the PP of Castilla-La Mancha.
Management which, in the opinion of the leader of the opposition, is “slowing down” the progress of Castile-La Mancha compared to the regions surrounding it and that “this leaves us at the bottom of economic and social development indicators”.
“There is an alternative”
Furthermore, Núñez will demonstrate that another policy is possible in Castile-La Manchaa policy that “leads us to move forward and place ourselves at the head of the country, as has happened in other autonomous communities.”
According to the PP, “this Tuesday there will be a clear demonstration that “There is a political alternative, with a serious and reliable project to trust”.
For its part, Vox will take advantage of the debate to underline the commitment of its parliamentary group to the control and control of the socialist government.
They will emphasize the importance of tackling the “most pressing” problems, according to them, such as illegal immigration, increased crime, unemployment, young people’s difficulties accessing the job market and housingthe “deficiencies” of the health system and the “inequalities” from which, according to those of Santiago Abascal, the inhabitants of Castilla-La Mancha suffer compared to other regions.
Proposed resolutions
On Wednesday, the second day of the debate, the socialist, popular and Vox parliamentary groups will defend their proposed resolutions. for up to five minutes and provided that they have previously been admitted for processing by the Council of Cortes.
The first proposals to be put to the vote will be those of the parliamentary group with the largest number of deputies in the Cortes, those of the PSOE, followed by the rest of the groups, in order of numerical importance (PP and Vox).
After the vote on the resolutions, the session will be suspended and a debate on the state of the region will be concluded during which Page will suggest his project will not end with the term ending in 2027but intends to continue for another four years.
Before that, he must revalidate his position as secretary general of the PSOE of Castilla-La Mancha, something that should happen without rival or inconvenience at the Congress next Januarythen confirm his intention to run for the fourth consecutive time in the regional elections. Besides winning them again, of course.
