It is risky to draw conclusions at the end of the events, but the substantial legislative reform proposed this week by PP and Vox, the governing coalition’s parties in Valencia, appears poised to mark a turning point in the current term. It is true these are bills for now; the parliamentary journey and even the implementation of what they are proposing remains long—more than a year—so the context can shift; the PP has reiterated (a mantra in these cases) that changes can be introduced… All of that is true, but the political charge behind the five reforms is so strong that, on March 21, it already casts a red shadow over Carlos Mazón’s mandate calendar.
On March 21, the feast day of Saint Nicholas of Flüe and Saint Serapion, a first stage of the term closes, one defined by power consolidation, by fiscal reforms (the cornerstone of the PPCV campaign in 2023), by a leaner executive, and by the passage of budgets. It is also a period in which Mazón has unsettled the left-leaning former government with the management of agreements, real or tacit (both the Vox and Compromís agreements in the Corts Board), and with decisions such as not returning to the privatization line of public healthcare pushed by the PP in the past.
After that eight-month opening, this week’s reforms usher in a new period, deepening the conservative ideology, with some proposals closer to Vox’s more hardline positions than to the center-right. This is the case with the so-called Concordia law, which reworks the Democracy Memory law, something not in the program that gave Valencian Populars the May 28 election victory, but it was in the subsequent agreement with Santiago Abascal’s bloc to form government.
This is not a coincidence, nor is it incidental that party leaders privately acknowledge the proposal, among this bloc, to be a “more conservative by far” measure. It signals where the footprints lean for one partner and another. Still, sources say the project has been refined, even with Vox’s demands, and it respects what the previous norm contained. In any case, the act of rolling the law back to 1931 is one of those symbolic decisions that marks a governing phase, as it brings the position closer to revisionist (some would call it negationist) stances on the Civil War.
The review of multilingualism or the reform of the public television are also weighty decisions that shape a legislature, but these were already in the ADN of the current PP program. It is the party that has led the final formulation: the far-right has the closing of regional televisions on its Spanish agenda. In both cases the protection of the Valencian language, the local minority tongue, one of the hallmarks of four decades of self-government, fades under the appeal of parental freedom and improved audience figures.
Mazón fulfills his program and what was agreed with Vox with this package of measures. But Mazón also heats up the legislature, shifting from a profile of “technical rigor” (a concept repeated in these months) and broad social-anchored decisions, such as tax cuts, to a fresh stage where issues from a clearly conservative program also take center stage. Some unions, like STEPV (dominant in education), have already threatened a general strike in recent hours.
The head of the Government has spoken in recent hours to justify the measures and to take the lead in them. He has described the Botànic policy as a “Valencian process” and spoken of a “distorted memory” to defend the Concordia bill now presented. The strength of the defense also lies in maintaining the cohesion of a government that remains a coalition, even if Vox members have stood out in these months for their prudence.
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The new phase coincides with the PSPV congress. A matter of chance, perhaps. Nevertheless, it opens a door of opportunity for Diana Morant. It may be simpler to operate as a social-democratic opposition to a government that leans more conservative and that provokes a reaction from civil society.