“An electoral conga.” This is how the PP candidate and president of the board of directors, María Guardiola, defined in 2023 the proposal of the socialist Guillermo Fernández Vara that Canal Extremadura TV organizes an electoral debate in which representatives of all the parties that participated in the elections of that year would participate. “He (Fernández Vara) wants to hide behind this electoral conga,” Guardiola said.
However, this same conga is now demanded and imposed by the PP candidate during the debate that the regional public channel organized this Thursday with the dozen candidates participating in the December 21 elections. Of course, Guardiola refused the opportunity to debate next Thursday on RTVE and on the national channel, with the PSOE, Vox and Unidas por Extremadura, the groups that gained representation in the Assembly two years ago.
María Guardiola also said that this debate format with so many voices prevented other proposals and ideas from being heard. And that’s exactly what happened again. New Extremeñismo-Adelante Extremadura, Pacma, For a fairer world, Together for Extremadura-Levanta, A Dignified Extremadura, Ciudadanos, Unidas por Extremadura, Vox, PP and PSOE launched proposals for their electoral programs in the two minutes that each had to talk about Economy and Employment; Equality, health and education; Infrastructure; and future challenges. Nothing about young people or housing, even if the CIS study places it among the concerns of Extremadura residents.
Few new ideas and very few debates due to a restricted design, but also because the candidates did not take advantage of the minute of response they had to finish each block, during which they could question themselves. They preferred to continue talking about their electoral programs. The PP, PSOE, Vox and Unidas por Extremadura have not even deviated from the scenario, with proposals that seem old, even if experience has worked in their favor: tax cuts, tax exemptions, reduction of waiting lists in health, public education, fight against depopulation, measures in favor of self-employed workers… But the most innovative measure was the initiative of the regionalist candidate of Juntos Extremadura-Levanta, Raú González: “We are going to defend Extremadura and we are going to start supporting the candidacy of Fuente de Cantos so that it obtains the lighting of Ferrero Rocher.
The distribution of the 33 deputies of the Assembly of Extremadura is between the four major parties and this is seen in the cross attacks that have been committed, which are also not new. The PP candidate, María Guardiola, reiterated the “tightening” between the PSOE and Vox, which she accuses of having prevented the approval of the 2026 budgets and of having voted in harmony 91 times in the Extremadura Assembly since 2023.
But for the far-right candidate, Óscar Fernández Calle, the “pincer” was that of the PP and the PSOE, who voted the same thing in the Parliament of Extremadura 87 times, agreed on the municipal budgets of Cáceres and unanimously approved the budgets of the Provincial Council of Cáceres. In all his interventions, he repeated it.
The polls published on the occasion of the elections, as well as those of the CEI, predict that the PSOE will be the only party which will lose its support on December 21. Its candidate, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, is being sued for the hiring of Pedro Sánchez’s brother to the Provincial Delegation of Badajoz and, as expected, he had to face this situation during the debate. PP and Vox have reiterated this, as have the numerous cases of sexual harassment in socialist ranks which are becoming known in recent days.
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