The national deputy secretary of Health and Social Policy of the Popular Party (PP) and head of the list for Congress for Ciudad Real, Carmen Fúnez, left the door open this Wednesday to a possible electoral agreement with Vox for the Senate, an option that, she defended, would be aimed at preventing the PSOE or the so-called “sanchismo” from taking control of the Upper House.
Fúnez made these statements during her first press conference in Ciudad Real after it was announced that she would once again lead the popular candidacy for Congress, after being expressly asked about the negotiations between the PP and Vox to run jointly for the Senate. Far from closing that possibility, the popular leader insisted that her party's objective is to prevent the socialists from regaining the majority in a Chamber where the popular party currently holds an absolute majority.
“What we intend is that sanchismo does not occupy the Senate of Spain”, said Carmen Fúnez, who defended that the PP must act “with responsibility and common sense” and prioritizing “the interests of Spain and not those of the Popular Party”. The leader avoided specifying whether the conversations with Vox could translate into joint candidacies in some provinces, including Ciudad Real, and merely stated that, for now, “there has been no other news that can be transmitted today”.
These statements come after the national president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, confirmed the existence of conversations with Vox to seek a majority in the Senate, while both parties study formulas to counteract the electoral agreement reached between the PSOE and other left-wing forces.
Fúnez framed this possibility within the relevance that, in her opinion, the next general elections will have, in which she considers that the country's model, institutional stability, and the strengthening of the rule of law are at stake. “We are playing for much more than a party winning an election”, she warned, while defending that the PP must be “up to” the circumstances.
Criticism of Pedro Sánchez's “electoral Tuesdays”
On the other hand, the national deputy secretary of Health and Social Policy of the PP has accused the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, of using the Council of Ministers as an electoral campaign tool, following the approval of new social measures just over a month before the general elections. “For us, those are not social Tuesdays, they are electoral Tuesdays”, she affirmed, arguing that the Executive is turning the Council of Ministers into its “campaign committee”.
As an example, she cited the extension of the benefit for the care of minors affected by cancer or other serious illness, known as CUME, approved this Tuesday by the Government and which will allow the aid to be maintained beyond the age of 26 when the beneficiaries have a disability of at least 65% or grade III dependency.
According to Carmen Fúnez, the PP had proposed the same modification through amendments to the reform of legislation on disability and dependency, although the Government vetoed them just a few weeks ago, alleging an increase in budgetary expenditure. The popular leader has quantified this increase at 2.3 million euros for 2027 and has questioned why the Executive has now decided to approve a measure that it previously rejected.
“What has happened from a month ago until now? Have they found the 2.3 million euros they needed or have an electoral campaign and upcoming elections for November 29 been called?”, asked Fúnez, who considered the use of these benefits in the midst of the pre-campaign a “lack of respect” towards the families who depend on these resources.