Isabel Díaz Ayuso was scheduled to attend this Friday at La Moncloa. The Conservative baroness said on Monday that the quote was meaningless after having demanded his resignation President Pedro Sánchez, linking his name with corruption in the Congress of Deputies and negotiating with ERC a unique financing for Catalonia. And he has gone to the Pontevedra municipality of O Porriño to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the architect Antonio Palacios. Those who also had this date marked in red on the calendar – and have attended – were their party colleagues, the president of the Balearic Islands, Marga Prohens, and the Extremaduran president, María Guardiola. At the conclusion of both meetings with the president, Minister Ángel Víctor Torres, thus assessed Ayuso’s absence at the press conference:
―What remains is an empty chair. The only one. It’s a mistake.
All the regional presidents have responded to the president’s call, except Ayuso. A fact that has marked the meeting of the two presidents of the PP and highlighted the differences with the president of the popular parties, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who recognized in an interview with The World that if the chief executive calls, he must go. A line shared by Prohens, the Balearic president, whose meeting with the president she described as “fruitful” and which has helped her put “commitments and solutions” on the table. So much so that, after explaining the demands that he has demanded from Sánchez in person – in terms of housing, infrastructure, taxes, rejection of the economic agreement with Catalonia or immigration – he has shown the differences with respect to to the Madrid president, although he understands his rejection.
“We must respect and deeply respect the decision of each president,” he observed, “knowing the reality of his region, and in the case of the president (Ayuso) his particular reality. From the first moment, I said I would attend. We are also ordinary representatives of the State in our territories and it is an opportunity to come here to present the demands of the citizens of the Balearic Islands. “Also being able to tell the president the issues that we reject outright, such as fiscal independence with Catalonia.”
The president of Extremadura, María Guardiola, began her appearance with a very different tone from that of her colleague. “After a year and three months as president of Extremadura, I have been able to sit down with Sánchez for the first time. 466 days of waiting for a first meeting with the boss, shows a certain lack of interest (…) I attend the meeting with a president marred by corruption (…) I have come to convey to him the expectations of the people of Extremadura so that his voice sounds in the offices of La Moncloa.” And he has explained the reasons for his visit, beyond the president’s formal invitation. “I act with responsibility and loyalty to the State.”
Guardiola reminded Sánchez of the poor state of the infrastructure in his region, above all, the eternal promise of a high-speed train connecting Badajoz with Madrid. “We have heard announcements from all governments. Extremadura is immunized. “Only the facts matter to us.” And regarding Ayuso’s absence, he has said that he has all his support and love. “It is harassment and demolition. The defense he makes of the people of Madrid should not be questioned. My position was different. “I had not had the opportunity to communicate with the president of the nation.”
