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The opposition parties in Galicia have transferred this Thursday to Alberto Núñez Feijóo their opposite position to call regional elections next July. The President of the Galician Government summoned the leaders of the main parties to a meeting after announcing his intention to make an electoral call in early summer, on dates that indicates that they are backed by legal and health reports, but, after two and a half hours of meeting, he left without a date for that electoral appointment and with a majority rejection of his call.

Feijóo had a face-to-face meeting with the representatives of his own party - the PP, Pedro Puy - and the PSOE, the BNG and Galicia En Común Anova Mareas . In addition, representatives of En Marea and Ciudadanos attended via videoconference .

The leader of the PSOE, Gonzalo Caballero , criticized Feijóo's "unilateral decision" to call the elections in July and considers it to be "high political and health irresponsibility". Very critical of the decision, he believes that Feijóo is moving towards "a hidden agenda" which is not the agenda that interests Galician citizens in a state of alarm and health emergency due to the coronavirus.

BNG leader Ana Pontón criticized that this meeting only served to "corroborate that Feijóo has already made the decision." He attributes a "unilateral decision" which, in his opinion, and in view of the reports provided by the Xunta itself, is "reckless". Regarding the date, it is feared that the Galician government will not set it, but will join the one that Iñigo Urkullu ends up setting, "going as far as Euskadi decides."

Only the support of En Marea

The leader of Galicia in Common, Antón Gómez Reino , assured that Feijóo conveyed to them that "he cannot guarantee" that a hypothetical electoral process is given with all the sanitary and epidemiological guarantees, and considers "evident" that the only thing that matters "is your electoral strategy. "

For her part, the spokeswoman for Cs in Galicia, Beatriz Pino , argues that the decision is not an easy one, since all the reports indicate that in the autumn there will be a second wave and that "there is no ideal date or scenario to hold the elections ", but he opts to let more time pass, because" the further we move away from the current situation, the more stable, for public health purposes, will be the scenario in which we find ourselves. "

Only the representative of En Marea, who is in the current Galician Parliament but had stated his intention not to stand for the next elections, would support Feijóo's decision. Pancho Casal indicated that he sees "uncertainty" to hold an election with all the health guarantees, but, in the event of an outbreak in autumn, he believes that the "least bad" date would be July 19 .

Feijóo will decide the date

At the end of the meeting, Feijóo did not carry out evaluations, but from the Galician government a statement was issued in which he hints that, despite the opposition of the other parties, he continues with the intention of the electoral call.

Now, after listening to the parties, he will make a decision on the date of the same, in which he will take into account the aforementioned reports (four health and one legal).

The closest legally possible date for the call will be July 12 , but it has not yet been decided. Feijóo transferred to the parties that will take the "most responsible" decision according to the data that is known and insisted that, in any case, the Galician government continues to have as a priority the fight against the pandemic and the social, labor and economic reactivation of the Galician families and companies.

The Galician Government maintains that the aforementioned reports express that the moment that offers the least uncertainty for voting is the beginning of the summer and that health security will be greater "as soon as possible", since, with the passing of the months, the risk of " foreseeable regrowth in autumn ".

Furthermore, the Xunta recalls that when the state of alarm was activated and the parties unanimously agreed to suspend the elections called for April 5 , a commitment was made to activate the electoral process "in the shortest possible time." It also insists that the latest modification of the state of alarm expressly enables the possibility of calling regional elections.

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Galicia
  • In tide
  • PSOE
  • Citizens
  • BNG
  • Alberto Núñez Feijoo
  • PP
  • Inigo Urkullu
  • Galicia Elections

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