ACN
The general secretary of the Canarian Socialist Party (PSC)-PSOE, Juan Carlos Alemán, yesterday disassociated the vote of the Canarian Coalition (CC) on the General State Budgets (PGE) from the support that the Canarian socialists give to the regional accounts. "They are two completely different worlds," he assured, guaranteeing that if CC does not support the PGE, it does not mean that the PSC does not support the regional budgets, because the Autonomous Community "is not subject to a State negotiation."
However, he noted the good progress of negotiations at both levels, assuring that the PSC supports the Canary Islands regarding the two issues that have been put on the table as main conditions to give their support in Madrid, while describing the meeting last Wednesday of the Coordination Commission between both parties as "highly positive".
Regarding the first forum, which will hold its second meeting in Madrid tomorrow, he assured that CC has the support of the Canarian socialists regarding the consolidation of the return of the 80 million euros from the fund withheld by the State to the Canary Islands on account of the extinct Business Traffic Tax (ITE), because "there is no reason for the Autonomous Community not to obtain it".
At this point, the regional Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Housing, Antonio Castro, who is participating in the meetings to agree on parliamentary support for the PGE, has confirmed to ACN Press that maintaining the figure returned for this concept is already a reality that the central government has guaranteed and an increase requested by the nationalists of "10 or 20 million euros more" is pending a response. The State Executive promised to respond in this regard "today Friday, Monday or Tuesday," he said.
Regarding the definitive closure of the agreement on infrastructure agreements, which is pending the socialist Government deciding on the definitive term of validity of the road agreement and, therefore, the global amount of the state contribution, Alemán also guaranteed that CC has the support of the PSC "because what CC is negotiating is reasonable and that is what we are expressing".
Pre-financing
Alemán was also in favor of the formula of pre-financing of works by the Government of the Canary Islands proposed by CC, "for some works", but with a notably different nuance from the one defended by Castro last Tuesday. He was betting on the return of the amounts advanced by the regional Executive being included within the Agreement by extending its term of validity, maintaining the annual investment figure (183 million euros) agreed until 2012 for about 8 more years, which means an "extra" contribution close to 1,500 million euros.
Meanwhile, Alemán interprets the pre-financing request as an extension of the term of application of the Agreement linked to a reduction in annual funds, finally receiving the same "bag". It is this formula that the PSC supports and on which it believes the central Government can yield, "due to current liquidity difficulties", although "it did not have a good first reception". The proposal in the terms of the Government of the Canary Islands, however, does not bode well for it to go ahead.
Regarding the negotiations "at home" on the regional budgets, Alemán reiterated the Government's receptiveness to his proposals, which are "on a very good path" and anticipated that "if things don't go wrong, the PSC will have the arguments it needs to be able to explain a positive vote to the citizens, which would change the tradition of the last ten years".
Relationships
The leader of the Canarian socialists also referred to the relations between the PSC and the regional Government, which he described as "magnificent". Regarding the latest disagreements staged with exchanges of statements in the media, especially regarding the reform of the Statute of Autonomy, he said that "restoring relations that have been cut off for ten years is not complicated, but it takes time". Time that, he added, must be marked by the two political forces and not the "informative or personal anxieties".
In this line, he added that things work "like clockwork" in the areas that have value - such as the Coordination Commission - and explained that the two parties have to learn to live together. "The PSC has to learn that things cannot be as we want and we cannot be permanently reminding CC that it is governing in minority, while CC has to know that they cannot do what they want, but govern from dialogue and agreement in a situation in which there is no real pact, but based on the given word".
He opined that "there is no need to be scared because there are differences, because this is not a situation of integration, but of coexistence and you can live in the same house even if everyone does not like the same programs". In any case, he assured that the contacts between both parties are permanent and that what transcends is only "a lot of noise".
Regarding the controversy surrounding the statutory reform - which the PSC links to that of the electoral system and CC to the deepening of self-government, through the transfer of powers - he assured that, in reality "there is a lot of approximation and points in common", but that "it is part of the theatricality of politics that the process is surrounded by fireworks and exhibition of feathers".
He assured that CC has already accepted the electoral reform and
talk about the regional list - which the leader of the nationalists, Paulino Rivero, continues to publicly reject - aspects that constitute in his opinion an "extraordinary advance with respect to how things were five months ago".
Finally, Alemán was totally sure that four statutory reforms will go ahead in this first Legislature of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero: the Valencian, the Catalan, the Canarian and the Andalusian "in that order".
