MADRID, 17 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy praised this Monday the income pact achieved by the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa and criticized the fact that “populism” is practiced in Spain by seeking to “divide people between rich and poor”, alluding to to the Executive of Pedro Sánchez.
“It is not a good objective to try to kill the rich. It is better to try to kill the poor and make them rich. That is probably more complex and difficult, but it is a much more moral objective than the other,” he proclaimed during his speech at the conference. ‘Political leadership and reglobalization in Latin America, Spain and Europe’ at Casa de América organized by ‘Thinking Heads’.
Rajoy has affirmed that in economic decisions it is necessary to act “responsibly” as, in his opinion, has happened with the Prime Minister of Portugal and his income pact. As he has recalled, in Spain “there was also an income pact at the beginning of 2012 in a situation of extreme difficulty”, during his mandate.
“Costa has achieved an income agreement, has progressively raised pensions to a maximum of 4% and has deflated the personal income tax rate so that taxes do not eat up wage increases. That is acting responsibly,” he asserted.
Rajoy has defended liberal democracy and has warned of the “damage” that populism does to societies. In fact, he has endorsed the words of Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa that populism is “the path to the self-destruction of democracy.”
The former chief executive has also warned that populism can be “extreme right, extreme left or nothing”: “The same can be a millionaire from New York, a Spanish communist fascinated by tropical dictatorships or a Central European xenophobic far-right”, has apostilled
Rajoy, who has cited on several occasions the reasoning that he exposes in his book ‘Politics for Adults’, has highlighted that a populist is one who “divides and polarizes”, the “inquisitor”, the one who “talks about caste” or “rants against bankers, company presidents, cardinals or seminarians.
Rajoy explained that a characteristic note of populism is “dividing between good and bad”, as well as “his adamism” because they think that “everything begins with him”, in such a way that “the above either does not exist or is not valid”. After assuring that “populism is contagious”, he has indicated that he wanted to explain these characteristics so that when people go “down the street” he can say “that one is a populist and that one does not seem to be”.
In addition, the former Prime Minister has charged against anti-eviction platforms or groups such as Surround the Congress, assuring that they have done “a lot of damage”. “This breaking the law to the bullfighter is the worst thing that can happen to a democracy,” he warned.
In his speech, Rajoy called for “greater political consensus”, such as what happened with the Transition, the Constitution, Spain’s entry into the euro or the application of article 155 of the Constitution in Catalonia.
Of course, he has admitted that it is difficult to reach agreements with an Executive like the one headed by Pedro Sánchez, who is supported by parties like ERC or Bildu. In his opinion, one of the “worst decisions that were adopted in Spain was the constitution of what some call the Frankenstein Government because it makes consensus difficult.”
“It is difficult to reach agreements with these people because they deny the Constitution, the Amnesty Law…”, he assured, adding that he would like the future government to return to a stage “in which there are parties that do not want check everything.”
