PP and Ciudadanos to strike deal to govern Andalucía – Vox not included

CENTRE-RIGHT Ciudadanos and the right-wing PP expect to reach a deal to govern Andalucía before Christmas Eve is out, but will not include any members of the far-right party Vox in their coalition.

PP secretary-general for the southern territory, Dolores López, says her team and Ciudadanos were 'practically there' in terms of the agreement they hope to strike, since the two parties 'coincide' with 'many of their proposed measures'.

Sra López recalls that during the PP's regional election campaign, it pledged to 'eliminate inheritance tax, reduce income tax and other steps essential to the lives of people in Andalucía'.

Others include 'working towards' nursery schools being free of charge for children from birth to three years old when they start in infants at primary school.

Many of these proposals will come to fruition within the first 100 days of government in the region, López says.

Vox, whose 12 seats gained out of 110 in the regional elections sparked international media concerns about the alt-right gaining a foothold in Spanish politics for the first time since the death of Franco, will not form part of the new PP-Ciudadanos coalition, but is unlikely to put up any resistance at the in-house voting session, Dolores López assures.

“Vox has always said it did not want to form part of a coalition and that it was not going to prevent the changes, so it has no reason to place any objection,” she says.

After winning its 12 seats, Vox stated that it had 'no desire' to be a 'doormat' and was not prepared to join a coalition just to make up the numbers.

Its policies are largely anti-immigration, and Vox famously told the State consumer organisations FACUA and OCU that they would stop their government funding if they gained power.

They also spoke of shutting the regional TV channel, Canal Sur, but López says the PP 'never spoke of' doing so and has no intention of closing it down.

The PP's aims concerning Canal Sur involve 'analysing ways' of making the regional broadcasting company, RTVA, 'more efficient, more effective, more professional and apolitical' so that it would be 'there to serve all the people of Andalucía, not just one political party'.

López explains that after the coalition deal is struck with Ciudadanos, the PP will meet with every single party in Andalucía's Parliament to discuss the way forward, including Adelante Andalucía, a multi-party outfit whose largest member is left-wing Podemos.

The photograph shows Andalucía's PP leader Juanma Moreno and Ciudadanos' Juan Marín embracing at the start of their bilateral meeting on Thursday, and was taken by the PP.