Pamplona (EFE).- The long electoral campaign, which began unofficially long before May 12, has passed in Navarra without any special surprises outside of what was planned, except for the controversy over the EH Bildu candidates convicted of belonging to ETA or the transfer of excargos from UPN to the PP lists for these elections.
However, both situations had been planned before the campaign, in the case of the EH Bildu lists to be able to register the candidates on time, who in the case of those convicted of blood crimes have finally announced that they will resign their seats if they get elected. It is a decision welcomed with satisfaction, although for many the gesture did not alleviate the offense committed with its initial presentation.
The preparation of the PP lists with people who had been active in UPN until the previous legislature has taken longer to prepare. This dynamic began more than a year ago with the approach of regionalist deputies Carlos García Adanero and Sergio Sayas to the PP after being suspended by UPN for voting against its guidelines in Congress.
Presence of national leaders
Both questions, that of the nationalist lists and that of the flight of candidates from the right, have been the object of reproach and analysis, and also a prominent allusion in the script of the central acts of the parties. These are events that no longer attract as many face-to-face audiences and in which it is increasingly easier to follow them through the comments on social networks and even live on the Internet.
Even so, the Navarrese parties have thrown in the rest again so that, in at least one of the days, their candidates appear backed by the national leaders if that is the case or supported by the greatest number of motivated militants that they can add, a section in which there have been flashy presences but also notable absences.
Thus, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has approached Navarra in the last 15 days; the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal; or the general coordinator of EH Bildu, Arnaldo Otegi. Also Minister Yolanda Díaz, leader of the “Sumar” platform, in the absence of a more prominent position from Podemos, led precisely by Ione Belarra from Navarre, who has not visited her land.
central rallies
Yes, he did, although before the electoral campaign, the president of the Government Pedro Sánchez as general secretary of the PSOE, a party that has already had the presence of several ministers such as Isabel Rodríguez, Luis Planas or Héctor Gómez in the campaign.
The state leadership of Ciudadanos is represented by the Navarrese candidate himself, Carlos Pérez Nievas (national coordinator of Cs), who was accompanied on one of the days by the secretary general and MEP Adrián Vázquez.
Meanwhile, the more regional parties UPN and Geroa Bai have held central rallies, without external visits like the previous ones, but with a special call for closeness and support for their militancy.
Diversity of themes in campaign
As for the messages, basic services such as health, education or infrastructures have been the common object of proposals together with housing, climate change or historical memory, with the self-government letter to bet on the use of the particularities of Navarre in taxation as a lever for other areas.
The candidates have endeavored to explain the notable differences in the program between the various candidacies throughout the whole of Navarre in these fifteen days. In this task, the loudspeaker that is no longer the usual media but social networks, where parallel debates are established, even among the candidates themselves, is becoming more definitive.
And also sometimes with the citizenry, since there have been many occasions on which passers-by, when they come across the electoral acts that are organized daily in the streets for the press, have come to listen to the message and even question politicians about their problems.
Arrasate sneaks into the campaign
With more or less discomfort, the candidates have left the job, among which Osasuna’s coach, Jagoba Arrasate, the involuntary protagonist of a new mural by the street artist LKN, has slipped humorously. This proposes him for president in an image in which the heads of the PSN and PP list appear in Parliament, pasting an electoral poster with the face of Mr. Osasunista.
The candidates from the 7 main lists have also participated in various joint debates organized by the media and have recounted their proposals in a multitude of interviews. They have shown their best face in photographs and proposals that are far from the image that citizens usually have of politicians, mainly in their more familiar surroundings or in more relaxed contexts.
These are not exactly the ones that have prevailed in their day-to-day life in these last two weeks, although the busy schedule, the hundreds of kilometers traveled daily to get as close as possible to the maximum population or the lack of sleep will be amortized with good results. this Sunday.
