Aznar crosses a new line against the Government: “Without ETA, Bildu would not have seats to make Sánchez president”

The former Prime Minister José María Aznar has delivered this Monday a harsh speech against the current Executive during an event honoring the politician assassinated by ETA, Manuel Giménez Abad, held in Zaragoza. In his speech, Aznar directly linked the current parliamentary majority with the terrorist group's past by stating that “without ETA, EH Bildu would not have the seats with which to make Pedro Sánchez president”.

The former leader of the Partido Popular went further and added that “without Bildu, Sánchez would not be president”, thus directly questioning the legitimacy of the parliamentary supports that sustain the Government. These words were uttered at an event dedicated to the memory of the victims of terrorism, which has intensified the political impact of his statements.

During his speech, Aznar also attacked the Executive's prison policy, warning that it cannot “be transformed, under any circumstances, into a bargaining chip with which to obtain parliamentary support”. In addition, he criticized the agreements regarding democratic memory, assuring that “Bildu has agreed with the Government on the contents of a democratic memory law”, in reference to recent parliamentary negotiations.

The event was attended by prominent leaders of the PP, such as the president of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, the former Aragonese president and of the Congress Luisa Fernanda Rudi, or the former deputy and senator Gustavo Alcalde. In this context, Aznar defended that “victims are the moral pillar of our democracy” and demanded a memory that, in his opinion, avoids “a mockery and a lie” about what happened during the years of terrorism.

Likewise, the former president maintained that the current parliamentary majority “is willing to reprogram our memory” and to “cancel the victims murdered by ETA as a priority democratic reference”. With these statements, Aznar insisted on the need to “delegitimize ETA's posthumous alibis” and to keep the focus on the recognition of the victims, in a speech that reinforces his critical stance with the Government and raises the tone of the political debate around the legacy of terrorism in Spain.