The day before yesterday, after two years, the Valencian Parliament finally allowed to debate and vote on the popular initiative (ILP) that respects the rights of Valencians to use their mother tongues.
In March 2022, the organisation „Hablamos Español“ submitted this popular initiative with over 40,000 signatures (four times more than necessary). This forced the Valencian parliament to debate and decide on the proposed law.
In her 6-minute speech, Goria Lago, the president of „Hablamos Español“ justified the proposed law. A spokeswoman for Compromís, a party that was still in government with the PSOE in 2022 and is now in opposition like the PSOE, was the first to speak out against the law. Unsurprisingly, she was supported by Chulvi, the PSOE spokesperson. It didn't help that he was reminded by Gloria Lago that the former and popular PSOE president Felipe González had always opposed any language constraints.
It then emerged from the PP's speech that it too would vote against the people's initiative, earning it the accusation from Gloria Lago that it had betrayed its voters. Unfortunately, this behaviour came as no surprise, as I reported back in January of this year.
„Hablamos Español“ reports on the debate under the title: „The PP votes with the Valencian nationalists to overthrow the ILP of Freedom of Choice of Language“. The report draws the lesson that it is necessary to reorganise in order to continue fighting for a reasonable language policy that respects the rights of all.
It remains to be added that we must also learn that Spanish and regional nationalists need each other in the principle of divide and conquer (divide et impera) of the Spaniards. You can't trust political parties. What is promised in the election campaign and what is actually done is never congruent.
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