The MEPs will vote for the second time on Friday, when a simple majority will suffice for the presidential candidate (in the first session it is essential to obtain an absolute majority of the affirmative votes).

Before the vote, parliamentarians discussed Rajoy’s investiture speech on Tuesday. As for the Basque People, three have spoken: Aitor Esteban (EAJ), Marian Beitialarrangoitia (EH Bila) and Iñigo Alli (UPN).

The refusal of the PNV

Esteban was the first to speak in the Basque delegation. He criticized the centralizing attitude of the PP government –with an absolute majority– during the previous legislature and conveyed his criticism to Mariano Rajoy for the appeals presented by Madrid to the decisions taken by the Basque institutions, both the government and the Vitoria-Gasteiz Parliament. He announced that he would vote no, although he left “the door open for discussion” and told the PP that the PNV has nothing to talk to him about as long as the people “are not ready to reach a bilateral agreement between the Basque Country and the state.”

Previously, in the morning, Pablo Iglesias (Podemos) expressed doubts about the position of the PNV, suggesting if the reason why the nationalists say no to Rajoy is the proximity of the elections in the Basque Country and if he will maintain this position after September 25.

“The Need to Dismiss PP”

Marian Beitialarrangoitia has stressed the “need to dismiss” the PP from the Spanish government “to put an end to anti-social policies”. The MP of the EH Assembly has called for a change of attitude on the part of the PP and the Spanish Government so as not to hinder the peace process in the Basque Country, exemplifying the Colombian agreements, and without mentioning it, he has made a gesture to the PNV and Podemos, citing the proposal of Arnaldo Otegi to make a “popular agreement” between the three forces.

For his part, Iñigo Alli of the UPN made a general criticism of the actions of politicians at the beginning of his speech, saying that “we are going to disaster” and calling for the overcoming of the state of blockade that prevents the formation of a government in Spain: “We are failing in front of the public.” He supports Rajoy’s candidacy – demanding that he respect the foral nature of Navarre – and uses his speech to criticize the latest change of government in Navarre.

What next week?

As for the controversy between the great Spanish forces, nothing has implied that there can be an approximation to the formation of the government, much less that the state of blockade can persist until Friday. If Rajoy’s investiture attempt fails predictably, it remains to be seen what position the main opposition groups will take. In fact, some MPs who have expressed their support for the expulsion of the PP from the government have asked Pedro Sánchez to make an effort to launch a pact for change. If the demands are met, the head of the PSOE would have two months to develop an alternative. The winner for now, the ghost of the third election.