Vox exhibits before the new Aragonese president of the PP the string of commitments he has assumed

We had to wait for the spokesman of Vox, Alejandro Nolasco, to go up to the rostrum of the Cortes de Aragón this Thursday afternoon to listen to the thorniest points of the program of the new regional coalition government, which the new president, the popular Jorge Azcón, had avoided during the two days of his investiture debate. The vice president in pectore – he will be formally on Saturday, when the new Executive takes office – was shelling some of the 80 points of the pact signed between the PP and Vox.

From the repeal of the regional law of Historical Memory, because history "must be academic and neutral", as he said, to the school check – which involves the public financing of non-concerted private education – through the prior authorization of the content of extracurricular teachings by parents (what the ultra party called "pin" parental") to "take the ideology out of school, which there is," in his words. Also, the "express eviction of the squatters" or the tax deduction for the spouse who is dedicated to the home, a way to encourage the return of women to domestic chores. Only the reform of the Aragonese trans law, which the PP supported in its day and of which nobody has explained in what sense it will be changed, was left in the inkwell.

Speaking as the future head of the portfolio of Territorial Development, Depopulation and Justice, as if it were his investiture and not that of Azcón, Nolasco announced that his priority will be to cut up to 20% labor costs for companies that settle in Teruel and encourage the arrival of doctors and teachers. Despite his lengthy enumeration of the commitments assumed by the PP, he warned that Vox "has not signed a white check or renounced any of its proposals and principles, but in a positive way."

After accusing the left of putting its members at "physical and moral" risk for saying that his party is against human rights, he categorically denied that Vox does not condemn sexist violence, but equated it with many other forms of violence. "I do not see the PP repealing any law that has to do with gender violence," said the PP candidate for president.

Azcón was surprised that the left followed with such interest the presentation of his government program by the spokesman of Vox, claiming that it was public and known, although he had avoided detailing it and devoted most of his time to examine the opposition parties rather than to examine himself.

He did announce that the first measure that his executive will take will be to exempt from personal income tax the 15,000 Aragonese who have had to pay this tax for not having deflated the rate. He did not specify, however, the cost of the battery of tax cuts that he has promised nor did he deny the figure of 200 million given by the socialist spokeswoman, Mayte Pérez.

The new president defended his coalition pact with Vox by ensuring that it was "the only possible government with the result of the polls" in the regional elections of May 28. Although after the election he said he intended to govern alone, he denied that he had changed his mind. "What happens," he replied to the Socialists, "is that there has been an election result and, given your refusal to even meet with me, there is no more stable government than the one that is going to be voted on in this chamber today." Faced with the accusation that he has not dared to repeat elections for fear of losing them, he alleged that, "given the possibility of forming a government, he would not have been serious or responsible."

Azcón denied that he is going to privatize health, as the left reproaches him, arguing that the greatest privatization is the fact that they have grown by 24%, to exceed 300,000, the Aragonese who have subscribed a private insurance, and asked that his Government be judged "by the facts and not by prejudices."

He did not explain the contradictions between the agreement signed with Vox and the one signed with the Aragonese Regionalist Party (PAR), two formations that maintain "antagonistic positions in the State model or the transfer of the Ebro", as Tomás Guitarte, of Teruel Existe, reminded him. While Azcón attributed the abolition of the General Directorate of Language Policy to its meager budget, Nolasco made Vox's reasons clear. "In Aragon we don't speak Catalan," he said, denying the fact that a variant of Catalan is spoken on the eastern fringe of the community.

Although the rejection of the transfer does not appear in the pact with the PAR, its only deputy, Alberto Izquierdo, presented himself as "the guarantee that there will be no transfer", while Azcón responded that "the only real risk" for the Ebro is that, to be re-elected president, Pedro Sánchez yields to the claim of the pro-independence parties to manage the stretch of the river as it passes through Catalonia. The PAR will not enter the Government, but will occupy five general directorates, something that has not been officially recognized but is an open secret. "You have very valuable people on your team and my goal is to be able to count on them," Azcón told Izquierdo by way of wink.

In his last speech, the new president warned his Vox partners that some coalition governments have failed because they have dedicated themselves to "giving spectacle" rather than "managing well". After more than nine hours of debate, the vote presented no surprises: Azcón was elected in the first round with 36 votes in favor (PP, Vox and PAR) and 31 against (PSOE, Chunta, Aragón Existe, Podemos and IU). In the Palace of La Aljafería, headquarters of the Cortes, everything is ready for this Friday to swear the office.

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