The great unknown of the debate held yesterday between Pedro Sánchez, Santiago Abascal and Yolanda Díaz was who each of the candidates would shoot at, since the main favorite in the polls was missing, the popular Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who refused to participate as there were no political forces that Sánchez has supported in the last legislature, such as ERC or EH Bildu. Well, the unknown was resolved in the first minutes of a debate that, despite being between three leaders instead of two, like the face-to-face one last Monday, was clearer and more intelligible and much less harsh, although equally lacking in proposals: both Sánchez and Díaz insisted on speaking of Vox and PP as a unit, or a “tandem”, as the Prime Minister defined them. Given this, the Vox leader distanced himself from the absent candidate, influencing on more than one occasion the agreement that Feijóo offered Sánchez in his face to face so that he governs the most voted list. “A pact to share power, so that bipartisanship continues,” criticized Abascal.
The debate, which began by addressing the Spanish economic aspect, made clear from the outset the differences in the views of the candidates in all respects. Abascal, the first to participate, used his first turn to speak to warn the audience that the Prime Minister was going to try to “confuse” with an “indulgence in manipulated data” to support “the great scam that he has been perpetrating.” Sánchez summarized the situation in the previous legislature, with a pandemic and the war in Ukraine and how, faced with the policies carried out by the coalition government, the approach of Vox and PP is to “boycott by opposing everything”, such as the increase in pensions.
Given this, Yolanda Díaz assumed an intermediate role, aware that she had to try to distance herself from the PSOE but without ceasing in her attack on the right-wing parties, in her battle to decide if it would be her political force, or on the contrary Vox, the third most voted this Sunday. He said that in this electoral campaign there are three proposals: “That of Feijóo and Abascal, who want to make us go back 50 years in the economy, a second, which says that things are fine [in reference to the PSOE]; and that of Sumar, which has three axes: industrialize the country, raise wages and fair taxation.”
Regarding the economy of families, Abascal blamed Sánchez and Díaz that, under their coalition government, “the data does not reach the pockets of the Spaniards”, since inflation has risen “an accumulated 16%” in the legislature. The Vox candidate accused both leaders of having turned to talking about the “end of the world”, in reference to the fight against climate change that Vox rejects, instead of worrying that “the Spanish do not make it to the end of the month”.
Sánchez took cover from this attack by brandishing one of the data most used by the Government in economic matters: “Never before in our country had 21 million people working.” He also defended that this advance in terms of the number of contributors has been “thanks to a labor reform that had the vote against PP and Vox.” Díaz also directed harsh criticism at the Santiago Abascal group and accused him that in the face of measures such as the labor reform, Vox’s proposals seem more focused on curtailing workers’ rights, such as “prohibiting strikes and collective bargaining”, something that Abascal denied having in his electoral program.
In the point referring to pensions, it was when one of the few points of friction in the debate between the PSOE and Sumar arrived. It is true that Pedro Sánchez did not seek confrontation with Yolanda Díaz, but the leader of Sumar did, to separate himself from the president’s speech. That is why Díaz reproached Sánchez that, although they agree in defending pensions, the “red line” of his party is to delay the retirement age. Sánchez replied that you have to “keep your feet on the ground.”
The other disagreement between the two took place in the social policy block, the housing law, which in Díaz’s opinion “has arrived late and has been severely cut.” It was one of the few references to the question of housing, because the social block was taken over by one of the most controversial issues of the legislature, that around the law of only yes is yes.
Here Abascal acquired his harshest tone: “Are they going to assume any responsibility? It is the law that has brought more sexist violence. They have unprotected women with their laws, no matter how many purple stickers they put on their lapels.”
Sánchez acknowledged having “made mistakes” in this matter, but then counterattacked by exposing regional governments between the PP and Vox in places like Extremadura or the Balearic Islands with which they have “regressed: 10 years in workers’ rights, 20 in the rights of the LGTBI collective, 40 in women’s rights and 60 in the censorship of culture. You have to decide with the vote if we wake up in 2023 or in 1973”.
For his part, Díaz reproached him that Vox’s policies “lead to 1,212 women being murdered”, in reference to the number of sexist murders since 2003. In a more proactive attitude than the other two candidates, Díaz stressed social measures in favor of equality: “We have to stop being the women who take care of, to do double shifts [at work and at home]. Men have to do their part and companies have to improve and be co-responsible , we need to extend the permits so that they are remunerated, thus advancing rights and improving people’s lives”.
The last block of the debate was dedicated to the Government pacts, although this question appeared in other previous points of the same. Sánchez based himself on the formation of governments of conservative ideology in places like the Valencian Community to point out that “where the PP and Vox can add, they are together.” Regarding the presence of Feijóo, Sánchez assured that the popular “is ashamed to appear next to Mr. Abascal”, although not to govern together with his formation.
For his part, Abascal charged against the pacts that Sánchez has carried out to remain in the Government, as with EH Bildu and ERC, which in return have led him to “pardon the most corrupt politicians in Spain”, in reference to the pardons after the process. In any case, he also criticized both the PSOE and the PP, because “during the last 40 years the old parties have made decisions with their backs turned on the Spanish and obeying foreign bureaucrats.”
Meanwhile, Díaz pointed out that “Abascal is going to be Feijóo’s vice president”, and warned that Vox has requested control of Education to support Feijóo on his way to Moncloa. “Would you put your children’s education in your hands?” he asked the audience. Finally, Sánchez assured that “a PP government with Vox would be contrary to the interests of Europe and a serious setback for the European project.”
