Jon Aristu
Pamplona (EFE).- María Chivite (Cintruénigo, 1978), president of Navarra and head of the list of the PSN to the Foral Parliament, affirms that “there is no alternative” to the current Government and points out that “Esparza (UPN) is not going to be president ”.
Chivite assures, in an interview with EFE, that the Socialist Party “does not have in its head to put EH Bildu in its Government” and advances that it will not make Javier Esparza, UPN candidate, president either.
Regarding the socialist position in the constitution of municipalities such as Pamplona in the current legislature, he affirms that his party has already proposed a progressive option for this Consistory but other parties preferred the “nationalist” option.
Q.- What is your objective in the next elections?
A.- Being the first political force in Navarre.
Q.- According to your own surveys, to be president you must have the abstention of EH Bildu or form a government with the abertzale coalition.
A.- The objective of the Socialist Party is to gain social support and have a stronger presence in the next Government, not only to continue leading it, but to do so with more force and not have to depend on other political forces outside the current Government.
Q.- Therefore, you are not going to include EH Bildu in your government.
R.- No no, the Socialist Party does not have in its head, in its planning or its strategy to include EH Bildu in its Government. We have been clear on that. Another thing is that reaching specific agreements is beneficial for everyone, but we do not contemplate EH Bildu within the Government itself.
Q.- Why can budgets be negotiated with EH Bildu, but not form a government?
A.- I believe that a government agreement is much broader than budgets or an agreement for municipal financing, which are the fundamental agreements that we have reached, because there is already talk of an institutional model, of a model of Government and ours does not fit with yours.
We also think that EH Bildu has to take steps in what has to do with the rejection of what ETA was, the mistake it made and make an ethical reflection on it, and that is a basic issue for us.
Q.- It is strange that you can agree on the law that establishes where a government is going to put the money, but you cannot agree on projects for the entire legislature.
A.- It is different. The budget agreements that we have reached with EH Bildu fundamentally have a social significance, there is indeed a coincidence, but there is no coincidence neither in the institutional model that we want for this community nor in the governance model that we want, and those are basic questions to agree a government. That is why I say that the PSN does not consider that EH Bildu be part of the Government.
Q.- Would you put UPN in the Government before EH Bildu?
A.- We are not contemplating a government that is different from the current one, beyond the fact that we want to gain weight within the government due to citizen support. We want a progressive government and we make a good assessment of how it has worked, so we aspire to reissue it.
Q.- If Uxue Barkos (Geroa Bai) gets one more vote than you, would you make him president?
A.- That is not what any of the surveys say, therefore it is not a question that is going to be real.
Q.- Does María Chivite have sufficient authority to form the Government that she deems appropriate or are decisions made in Madrid?
A.- We are part of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party, but indeed the party’s strategies were designed in Navarra.
Q.- It is something that the rest of the forces reproach you for and that in some cases has been striking when issues affecting Pamplona have been decided in Ferraz.
A.- That does not mean that the PSN was not part of that. There are decisions that are shared decisions, not that others decide for us, but that we decide together.
Q.- Does the presence of Santos Cerdán (PSOE Organization Secretary) give Navarra its own voice in Madrid as well?
A.- Of course, it contributes its own voice and contributes that the PSN has a greater importance and prevalence in the decisions that are made in the PSOE. In the end, having a presence that is the second most important position within the party effectively makes our voice more taken into account.
Q.- Is it going to condition what happens in the town halls for the Government and vice versa?
A.- The PSN wants to have a greater social weight and we also want progressive town halls throughout Navarra and that is where our electoral campaign will pivot, but of course this exchange is not the strategy that the PSN is going to follow. We want progressive town halls throughout Navarra.
Q.- Four years ago there was no progressive council in Pamplona.
A.- I have to say that the Socialist Party has always put a progressive proposal on the table and let’s not confuse progressive with nationalist. When I hear certain political formations say that they want progressive city councils… we put the option on the table, but they preferred that they be nationalist rather than progressive and that is not the line that the Socialist Party wants.
Q.- But in 2019 it was not negotiated.
A.- There was a PSN proposal on the table but other political parties decided to support nationalist parties. The PSN presented its own candidacy, therefore there was a proposal on the table that could have been supported by those political formations that say they want progressive governments. One thing is progressive and another nationalist.
Q.- Therefore, could only the PSN lead this proposal in Pamplona?
R.- I believe that the option of the PSN in Pamplona is a possible option that leaves behind previous governments, whether nationalist or right-wing, that have dedicated themselves for eight years to doing and undoing and now there is a real option for the PSN to have the mayor’s office and we are working on it.
Q.- Is the PSN going to make Esparza president passively or by omission?
A.- In no way.
Q.- Would you resign before that scene took place?
R.- I do not contemplate voting for Mr. Esparza as president of the Government of Navarra.
Q.- Do you dare with a forecast for the elections?
R.- I think that the surveys have in common that the blocks do not move much and that there is a clear growth of the PSN. We may be the first force. There is no alternative to this Government. Mr. Esparza is not going to be president.