Madrid, Ayuso, Freedom
On 4-M the people of Madrid went to the polls. And the people spoke. Freedom was the seductive word to attract the vast majority of citizens. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, with a positive discourse (ending the pandemic, not ruining commerce and restaurants, and continuing to create jobs) won the confidence of a people who never gave in to the PSOE's "candidate", who was none other than the President of the Government himself. Ayuso got more votes than the entire left. A free hand until May 2023. Gone was a PP-Cs coalition government torpedoed mercilessly by vice-president Aguado. That is the past.
It is clear that the reforms of the Statute will have to include, in the next Legislature, not only a reduction in the number of deputies (from 136 to 100) but also a shortening of the period between elections and investiture (43 days in office). Too many hours lost. We followed the president's speech. Courageous, calm, sensitive and realistic. And the triangle is simple: Madrid-Ayuso-Freedom. The candidate has announced to reduce the number of ministries to nine and to eliminate the vice-presidency. This contrasts with the elephantine government of La Moncloa (23 ministers, 4 vice-presidents and the Attorney General of the State who acts as the 24th minister). Ayuso has enshrined ethics and austerity in her government philosophy, as we learned with Adolfo Suárez. She has already shown generosity in the composition of the Assembly's Bureau. And, in the absence of real opposition that has tried to plant seeds of resentment in her post-speech statements, the Popular leader, with the frankness that characterises her, has assured that her government will continue to be "the first wall where the populist policies of the Government of the Nation come crashing down". She promises to work for the whole of Spain because Madrid is today the economic and solidarity engine that is essential to overcome the crisis. Let us hope that there is no discrimination in European funds; those funds that the president has not agreed with anyone.
Her presence in the Plaza de Colón confirms that she will vindicate national unity, the Constitution, and the Parliamentary Monarchy because "Spain is not for sale". And she has maintained her pre-campaign coherence when nobody answered her: "No to pardons because they are illegal and, moreover, immoral. Lowering taxes for taxpayers in the regional section of the IRPF, defending freedom of choice in education and health - long live the Zendal! helping women under 30 to have children, creating an "anti-occupation" office and facilitating access to the University for all students without resources, reducing fees and master’s degrees, are enough commitments for these 23 months of the Legislature.
Integral vaccination and the improvement of all hospital centres in the Region will make possible a post COVID-19 assistance that includes new social and health services and preferential attention to mental illnesses, including suicide prevention. The ratio per pupil in class and languages will be the best weapons to win the immediate future. Objective: to improve the lives of Spaniards by governing for all Madrileños.
The speech has been a toll-free highway to win together the imperfect future that awaits us. Madrid-Ayuso-Freedom: the equilateral triangle on which to build the political stability we need to create jobs, to be freer and more equal. Because, as León Felipe wrote, "it is not important to arrive alone and soon, but with everyone and on time". There is no one to spare here.
Antonio Regalado runs Bahía de Ítaca at aregaladorodriguez.blogspot.com