Capital Radio’s El Balance program opens the year with an interview by our colleague Federico Quevedo. This time with Miguel Gutiérrez, national deputy of Ciudadanos and member of the party’s Executive Committee.
State of the Nation Debate
The MP confirms that the year will be intense, but insists on his request to the Prime Minister to hold a debate on the State of the Nation. The debate “has not been held for seven years after all the important things that have happened”,according to the MP. In this regard, the president of his party, Inés Arrimadas, confirms that this debate should be held in January, even though it is not a working month in the Parliament.
Traditionally, the debate on the ‘State of the Nation’ is held between May and June, but the MP believes it should be brought forward because it is “at the halfway point of the legislature, as it is a point of analysis and reference”.
Labor reform, one of the issues to be discussed
Gutiérrez affirms that his party does not like the labor reform proposed by the government. The MP insists that in order to approve the reform, the government is “threatening” to count on the pro-independence parties. The MP affirms that these parties will “break up the labor market into 17 different markets”, something that Gutiérrez considers “extremely dangerous”.
Ciudadanos, as Gutiérrez confirms, is making an exercise of responsibility and will preliminarily support the reform. This support is based on preventing the government from relying on pro-independence parties, but adds that they will ask for things in return.
However, another political party would still be needed to join the government. Ciudadanos will ask for “an exercise of responsibility from the Popular Party (first right-wing opposition party)” to reach a minimum agreement and avoid a pact with the pro-independence parties, according to Gutiérrez.
Elections in Castilla y León
The current president of Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, insists that the early elections are due to a betrayal by Ciudadanos, with whom his party (PP) governed in coalition. For Miguel Gutiérrez “Mañueco’s excuses for undoing the government and putting the economy and the health of the citizens at risk is an exercise in irresponsibility”.
Ciudadanos faces an electoral calendar in which the polls for the party are not particularly good. For MP Miguel Gutiérrez, “not ending electoral cycles is bad political practice” and he expects citizens to punish him.
Listen to the full interview in the audio below:
Through ‘El Balance’, a program hosted by Federico Quevedo on Capital Radio, Influence Spain is able to expand its network of contacts within the national, regional and municipal spectrum.
