Two years of Carlos Mazón: from reaching the sky to fighting for his political survival

Carlos Mazón's People's Party (PP) has gone from being on the brink of collapse to political collapse, struggling for political survival with the sole lifeline of Vox, which the Valencian president is clinging to in order to approve a budget today with which he hopes to extend (unknown for how long) his term. In just seven months, the PP in the Valencian Community has gone from dreaming of absolute majorities, as some polls last October suggested, to not knowing whether its president will be able to fulfill his four-year mandate. The October 29th election has shattered the Valencian political landscape and broken up a term that is now reaching its halfway point.

On May 28, 2023, Mazón managed to make the PP the most voted party in the Valencian Community once again. After losing the five previous elections (the PP hadn't won since the 2016 general elections) and after hitting rock bottom in 2019 (just over half a million votes, its worst result since 1989), the polls turned upside down. Most predicted the continuity of the left and the Botànic, but the PP won with 881,000 votes and 40 deputies, closing an eight-year period of progressive governments. The wave against Pedro Sánchez and the unstrategic emergence of Sumar took its toll on the left, which failed to see the tsunami that was coming until the last minute. The PP, thanks to a personal gamble by the ousted Pablo Casado, won the Valencian Generalitat, the three provincial councils, and the main cities in the Community.

May 28th Elections In 2019, the People's Party (PP) hit rock bottom with its worst result since 1989; in 2023, with Mazón, it was once again the most voted party.

"We showed that bullrings could be filled again and that we could win the regional elections and end the regime that has existed for eight years" and "we went from 19 deputies in the Corts to 40," the president himself claimed a few days ago, aware that since May 2023 his situation has taken a 180-degree turn.

To consolidate his leadership, the Popular Party leader—boosted by the electoral triumph achieved—was the first to put a government pact with Vox on paper. This express agreement generated considerable tension with Génova—it should be remembered that Mazón was not Feijóo's man—and is considered by many to be the catalyst that allowed Pedro Sánchez to remain in power in the general elections of July of that same year.

Beginning of legislature The pact with Vox demonstrated a paradigm shift and gave prominence to the ultra-right agenda.

Concessions to Vox on symbolic issues such as changes in nomenclature (domestic violence instead of gender violence), the commitment to repeal initiatives in favor of historical memory, and the idea of ​​proposing measures against illegal immigration resonated throughout Spain and demonstrated a significant paradigm shift and the prominence of the far-right agenda in the Valencian political scene.

During their first year, the PP and Vox governed without major setbacks (except for a few gaffes from then-Vice President Vicente Barrera regarding aid from the Consell (Consell) to promote LGBTI tourism). It even seemed as if the PP was the ones who were eating up the smaller party and gaining electorally.

Read also What game is Vox playing in the Valencian Community? Hector Sanjuán

Before the national leadership of Vox decided to break all regional pacts with the PP, to the disappointment of Valencian hardliners, both parties managed to push through their "reformist agenda" with such symbolic laws as the Concord Law, which repealed the Law of Historical Memory and which has been appealed to the Constitutional Court, and the Law of Educational Freedom, which has allowed for a change in the linguistic model of classrooms, favoring the return of Spanish to teaching. Regulations were also approved that have allowed the new conservative majority to take control of À Punt and the Anti-Fraud Agency.

Vox's departure seemed to clear the way for Mazón's PP, with two and a half years to go, to begin working toward the goal of approaching an absolute majority by 2027. However, the October 29th collapse and the questionable management of the Generalitat and its president jeopardized all plans and broke up the legislature.

Since then, the social and political criticism of Mazón (including from his own party) has not stopped. A new, massive demonstration is expected this Thursday to demand his resignation. The Valencian president has linked his future to the reconstruction, which is progressing slowly and with little synergy between administrations, and it is unclear whether he will be able to survive the congress that the national PP has called for early July. La Vanguardia reported a few days ago that the party leadership is considering accelerating a change of leadership in Valencia before the party congress in July or, failing that, after the summer. It will not be easy, as the decision to resign from office still rests with Mazón, and those close to him indicate that there is no desire to relinquish the leadership.

New scenario Vox's demands on the PP are now greater than when both parties governed the Generalitat in coalition.

Meanwhile, Mazón continues trying to survive. He does so with a Vox party that is putting more pressure on him than when they shared government and has taken advantage of the Generalitat budget, which will be approved today in the Valencian Parliament, to definitively impose its agenda with harsh cuts to the promotion of Valencian, social partners, international cooperation, and measures to combat squatting and the return of migrant minors to their countries of origin. The extremists are aware of Mazón's weakness, and he is clinging to them to survive.