Press conference by President of the Government

Madrid

Mr. Rajoy.- A very good afternoon to you all and thank you very much for attending this press conference.

As you know, I have just come from Zarzuela Palace as part of the round of political consultations called by King Felipe VI. You are also aware that this is the second round of consultations called by the Head of State following the elections held on 26 June, which the People's Party won by a clear margin, and with just a few days remaining before we reach the deadline that would force us to call a third round of elections.

Moreover, this new round takes place following a decision adopted by the Socialist Party to allow the political stalemate to be unblocked and start this new Legislature; I will not comment on the reasons behind this decision or its details, since it's not for me to do so, but I would say that this seems to me to be a reasonable and responsible decision, as was the decision adopted by Ciudadanos to negotiate with the People's Party to provide support for my candidature to the Presidency of the Government, back when it was taken.

The King has commissioned me once more to submit my candidature to be invested as the President of the Government and I have accepted this commission. I believe that this is an attitude that is coherent with the position that I have advocated during the whole course of this unfruitful period of interim politics. You have always heard me say the same thing. Since the very outset, back in December, I have argued that the election results oblige us to reach an understanding with the pro-Constitution parties, with those who share a common position on the defence of national unity, on our membership of the European Union and in the fight against terrorism; with those who share the goal of maintaining our economic recovery, job creation and our system of social protection.

That has always been my position and today I welcome the idea that this understanding, albeit limited, can now move forward. For the time being, we are facing a clear and unambiguous consensus to avoid holding a third round of elections. This is something very important, which will have very positive consequences for Spain.

Given these new circumstances, without further delay and without any form of mistrust, I have again accepted being put to a vote of confidence from the members of the Lower House. I am fully aware of the difficulties involved in the fact of governing as a minority but, if anyone thinks that my party and I will fall into the temptation of abandoning our responsibility towards Spain to vie for a tactical advantage, then they are wholly mistaken. Spain needs a government as soon as possible and I am obliged to do everything in my hands to turn this into a reality.

The times are what they are and the circumstances are what they are. I would like to be able to count on a broader parliamentary majority that is more committed to a government programme that would clear away any uncertainties right from the outset. I know that this will not be the case but, at any event, I can guarantee that, if I am invested, I will work from the very first day to ensure that this government is capable, stable and lasting. I am aware that this will only be possible through dialogue and consensus.

I know that, to this end, I have the full support, loyalty and common sense of all the members of my party. If, at the start of my speech, I wanted to acknowledge the responsible and reasonable attitude of other political parties, allow me now, at the end, to also acknowledge the merit of the People's Party. These months have not been easy for the members of my party either, but they have known how to act responsibly, intelligently and with moderation. I have no doubt that they will continue to work in the same manner in the future. I would like to thank them all here and now for their fortitude.

I will draw to a close now. Spain has gone through an unprecedented period in our history over these last few months; something I believe is also unprecedented among our partners and neighbours: two general elections, more than 300 days with a caretaker government, absolute legislative paralysis and a multitude of problems put on the back burner. I hope and trust that the remaining days of this week will allow us all to bring this period to an end and commence a new period based on dialogue, understanding and cooperation rather than on extremism.

Responsibility and commitment are words we will need to combine in the coming days.

Thank you very much. I am now ready to take any questions.

Q.- President of the Government, today, following the round of consultations with the King, we have heard a parliamentary spokesperson tell us how the King wished to defuse the drama of negotiations and dialogue regarding such issues as the possibility of reforming the Constitution. I would like to know what you think about this, whether you believe a new era is dawning in which this may be possible, and not only this, but also certain important reforms that the opposition have been clamouring for, such as in regard to the Education Act or the labour reform.

President of the Government.- The King did not say a single word to me about the reform of the Constitution, and hence, I am not going to get into what the King allegedly said to someone else. He didn't mention anything about this to me or indeed anything related to that matter.

We are going to start a new era in which it is clear that we will need to talk a great deal. That is something that I will say in my investiture speech. Aside from that, we will see what needs reforming, what it is that we need to do, on what issues we can reach an agreement and on what issues we cannot reach an agreement. And I remember - you quoted an example, the Education Act - that in the last debate I took part in the Lower House, which was precisely the investiture session on 30 and 31 August, and then at the start of September, one of the proposals I made to the Lower House was to forge an education pact in Spain. And, as you would expect, I maintain the same position today as I did less than two months ago.

Q.- Yesterday you said that you had read the resolution adopted by the Socialist Party which has led them to abstain and that there were certain issues on which you could talk, positive issues. This resolution, apart, for example, from the reform of the Education Act (LOMCE), also talks about improving the regional model. Is this one of the things that you consider positive and about which you could sit down and talk?

President of the Government.- Yes, it is. Yesterday I said in a speech I gave at a hotel, here in Madrid, that I had read the resolution approved by the Federal Committee of the Socialist Party and that there were many things that seemed positive and reasonable to me and others on which we disagreed more. I believe that, in general, the diagnosis made of what has happened in Spain in recent times and of the need to form a government fully coincides with what I have asserted and believe, and many of the things referred to in the document, I repeat, approved by the Federal Committee, are things I have proposed in the past.

I believe that we need to talk about pensions; this is a very important issue for all Spaniards, for those who are pensioners and for those who are going to be. You also mentioned education. The regional issue is clearly something that we need to tackle in terms of its financing. This is an issue that has been pending for some time now, and it is not an easy issue, but some of our best public services depend on good regional financing, such as healthcare, education, social services and all those other areas managed by the regional governments.

Aside from that, we can talk about this and many other issues. What is important is a willingness to reach agreements without anyone losing their political reference, as you would expect, but I believe that the differences are not as great as they may seem. Hence, we can talk about many things, but we already agree on the main issues without even talking, such as the unity of Spain, national sovereignty and the principle of equality among all Spaniards. Aside from that, we can talk about whatever the other groups and our group wish to.

Q.- President of the Government, I have two questions. The first is whether you are concerned about the demonstration being called to surround the Lower House of Parliament and which Pablo Iglesias has said is logical and even healthy. Do you also share these opinions?

My second question is whether you already have a profile for your new government and whether you believe that this will include the recently reprimanded Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz.

President of the Government.- In relation to your second question, the truth is that I don't yet have a profile for my government. Moreover, I haven't even thought about this issue yet because until such time as we are clear that a plenary session of the Lower House will be held later this week it doesn't make much sense to do so.

Aside from that, I have absolutely nothing to say until such time as I have notified H.M. the King, as provided for in the Constitution and, in my opinion, as common sense dictates. As soon as I have notified the King, I will immediately notify you, and gladly so; but not before that.

In relation to the demonstration, the right to demonstrate is a right enshrined in the Constitution; hence, anything that is done as provided for by the Constitution and which is lawful is something that can be done. And I don't have another word to say on this matter.

Q.- I would like to return to the issue of the Constitution. As the participation of the PP, since it has an absolute majority in the Upper House, would be vital for any possible reform of the Constitution, I wanted to know whether you wish to take the initiative, whether you are prepared to take the first step and take on the start of this reform.

On another note, I wanted to know whether, in your talk with the Head of State, you tackled the issue of Catalonia and the referendum announced for September 2017.

President of the Government.- You already know my answer in relation to my talk with the Head of State.

As regards your first question, any proposal that I make on any major issue will first need to be discussed with those groups whose support I will ask for. I am not going to make proposals that are not going to come to fruition.

Q.- President of the Government, I would like to know whether you have spoken in the last few hours with Mr Fernández and, if you have, if you could talk about possible areas of common ground. I say this because in his appearance today, Mr Fernández said that he does not intend to support the General State Budget, and hence I would like to know whether this dialogue is fluid and whether there are areas of common ground.

Then, in the search for a headline regarding your future government, this press room includes the presence of the General Secretary of the Party, Vice-President of the Government Sáenz de Santamaría and the Head of your Office, Jorge Moragas, and I would like to know if you will be counting on them in the future.

President of the Government.- I am sorry but I can't find you a headline, except what I have just said to you.

As regards your first question, it is my understanding that you are referring to Javier Fernández. I have spoken with Mr Fernández but no agreement has been reached between the People's Party and the Socialist Party; a decision has been taken by the Socialist Party to abstain to help Spain to form a government. Hence no agreement has been reached.

Aside from that, logically, I am obliged to try to govern, and hence, I will need as much support as possible. I will have to win that support.

Q.- Mr President of the Government, I have two questions. If, in the end, this Legislature turns into "everyone against the PP", would you be prepared to present a proposal to dissolve Parliament before the end of its term; next year, for example?

My second question. After forming a government, what order of priority will the reforms proposed by Mr Rivera have as an essential condition for voting in favour of your investiture?

President of the Government.- I didn't understand your second question.

Q.- When will you begin the reforms demanded by Mr Rivera? As soon as this government starts to function?

President of the Government.- As you can appreciate, it hasn't even crossed my mind at this time to think about dissolving Parliament. Hence, it is my intention and I will strive for this Legislature to last for four years.

As regards the reforms, these are not Mr Rivera's reforms; these are agreements between Mr Rivera's party and the party that I head up, and hence, these are agreements between the People's Party and Ciudadanos. What is sensible and reasonable - and this is what we are going to do - is to reach an agreement to establish a calendar to implement these reforms and others. We haven't done this yet because I haven't even been invested yet.

Q.- I have a doubt about one of the answers you gave. Have you spoken with Mr Javier Fernández following the decision by the Federal Committee to abstain and during that talk have you reflected, in some way, on the need to reach an understanding? I don't know if perhaps you spoke before the resolution was approved at the Committee on its content.

President of the Government.- No, I haven't spoken with Mr Javier Fernández on the resolutions to be adopted by the Socialist Party. That wouldn't make any sense. No-one would come up with that idea.

What I will try to do, and I am sure I will manage to do, is talk with Mr Fernández in order to see how we can govern during the course of the near future. It is clear that I will speak with Mr Fernández who, at this time, is the President of the Management Committee of the Socialist Party, with Mr Rivera and with all those political forces that wish to collaborate and that wish to act responsibly and make a commitment, which, I repeat, and as I said in my opening speech, is the most important issue in the near future.

Q.- President of the Government, as regards the investiture speech that you will have to make in the next few hours or days, because you said to us in Brussels that you would adapt to the new political times, I wanted to know whether you are going to introduce many new proposals to the Socialist Party, whether you are going to introduce changes in this regard and also whether you will send out messages of rapprochement to other parties, such as the Basque Nationalist Party.

As regards your government, you have already said that you don't want to get ahead of events until at least you have spoken with the King but, do you see any reasons to introduce major changes in your present government?

President of the Government.- As regards this issue, as I have already mentioned, I still haven't stopped to think about it, about the changes or the reasons. So, this is an issue we will speak about later on.

As regards the programme I will present at the investiture session, the programme will not change much from the one I presented at the end of August: which comprised the government's 150 commitments to Ciudadanos, the agreements with the Canary Island Coalition and our own government programme that we stood with at the elections with another three political parties. Hence, that is the programme that I will present again in a more summarised fashion than at the end of August.

Aside from that, I have no other agreement, as I mentioned earlier, with other political forces, but logically, I am prepared to deal with any suggestions and ideas that others propose and which seem reasonable to me. That is why I said that a good part of the statements contained in the resolution approved by the Socialist Party in its meeting on Sunday seem sensible to me and I think we can discuss these because, moreover, and as I also said earlier, we agree on many of these issues.

Q.- President of the Government, I have just one question. You have spoken about responsibility and commitment, and in light of the new disposition that you are going to have to adopt in this new Legislature, I would like to know whether you personally, whether Mariano Rajoy, has made any mistakes in these 11 months of political stalemate or not.

President of the Government.- Bearing in mind where we are now, I don't know whether it makes much sense to analyse what has taken place. In life it is always better to look to the future; as regards the past, we have to learn from it. At any event, I believe that my disposition is always the same; it doesn't tend to change according to the circumstances.

We all have our own electoral campaign here; we may reach agreement on certain issues and on those issues we don't agree on, there is no other choice except to put them to one side or try to make a renewed effort to reach agreement, and that is going to be the case in this Legislature.

Q.- President of the Government, I would like to ask you whether, given the possibility that the main left-wing party, which is the PSOE at this time, may abstain in your investiture for a PP-run government, with the support of Ciudadanos, you may be strengthening a force that you have called extremist, radical and populist like Podemos. I would like to know whether you believe that this might be prejudicial to democracy.

President of the Government.- No, no. I have not classified anyone as such; what I said is that there were certain forces in different parts of Europe. Although it is true that Spain forms part of Europe, I have not described anyone in this manner, apart from other things, because it doesn't make much sense to do so.

I suppose that all of this will depend on how we all act after the upcoming events. I believe that in life, and I have always tried to do things this way, the best thing is to act positively. You are what you are, for better or for worse. Listen, you can always strive to better yourself; it makes no sense not to do so! But, you cannot be what you are not. So, you are what you are and you have to try and convince people of this.

The Socialist Party has been a social-democratic party and it has governed in Spain on many occasions over the course of the years, as indeed the People's Party has. I believe that Spain has improved a great deal over these last 40 years and hence, the Socialist Party has contributed to many of the significant contributions made to this improvement; let's wait and see what contributions others make in the future. In Europe, it is fundamentally the conservative parties and the socialist parties that govern; with some liberal parties in certain places. But Europe remains, and with a world of difference, the best place in the world in terms of democracy, liberty, human rights, socio-economic progress and the Welfare State.

Hence, whilst you can improve on anything, I believe that in terms of a moderated, sensible, common sense approach, more is built here than in other places.

Q.- President of the Government, I don't know whether you could clarify a little the calendar that will commence for the coming days; whether the investiture will begin tomorrow and, regardless of this, whether we will have a new government over the long weekend or whether we will need to wait until the 2nd.

President of the Government.- The truth is that I haven't thought about that. I don't even know when the investiture session will be held. But, in short, the normal thing is that, if everything goes according to plan, in the not too distant future, although I am not in a position at this time to set out dates in detail, we will hold the investiture and then a government will be formed.

Q.- President of the Government, I wanted to ask you about the PSOE's resolution, regarding which you said yesterday that there were good things although this resolution also talks about repealing the Education Act, the labour reform and the Citizen Security Act, better known as the "gag rule". I wanted to know if you would also be prepared to talk about these issues with the Socialist Party.

President of the Government.- I am willing to agree on those issues that unite us and put to one side, as I said earlier, those issues that divide us or make twice the effort to ensure that they do not divide us.

Thank you very much.