Simon Hunter
WITH regional and local elections due to be held at the end of May, the Popular Party (PP) premier of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, announced on Thursday that she was breaking ties with far-right Vox. Until now, the party had offered potential support to the conservatives, who have been governing without a majority.
‘It is clear that from today it is better for each of us to follow their own path,’ Ayuso said during a parliamentary session in Madrid’s regional assembly on Thursday.
The PP premier went on to express her ‘respect’ for the Vox party, but said that she ‘would not be dragged along with the drift’ that the group has taken.
She slammed the group for not understanding that ‘life is about nuances, contrasts, different points of view’, and argued that she had not seen a ‘single original proposal from Vox’.
The split, however, could be temporary, given that the polls are predicting that once again no party will garner enough votes at the May elections to secure a majority. This could mean that the PP will need to rely on Vox to form a government and pass legislation.
Analysts interpreted Ayuso’s statements today as more of a start to the election campaign than an actual change in the status quo, given that relations between the two groups have been sour since Vox refused to support the PP’s regional budget plans for 2023 back in December.
Ayuso has also been highly critical of Vox’s second motion of no confidence filed against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and which was debated on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
As was expected, the bid to oust the Socialist Party leader from power failed, and only drew the support of the Vox deputies in Congress and one other lawmaker.
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