Monday. Tuesday. And Friday. And Saturday and Sunday are still to come. José María Aznar has had a very active week. Both on social media and in public appearances. The former Prime Minister uploaded a new video to his Instagram and Facebook profiles this Friday, where he has hundreds of thousands of followers. Aznar has once again called for an early election due to “the unbearable atmosphere of corruption” in Spain.
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This is the second video against the Government in less than five days and the third time he has spoken about Spain since last Monday. The last time was on Tuesday during a conference in Mexico City, where he criticized left-wing and right-wing populisms and called on citizens to act to defend liberal democracy.
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“When so many families are struggling to make ends meet,” says the former PP leader, “when we pay more taxes than ever and, at the same time, are more indebted than ever, when we live in the unbearable atmosphere of corruption that Spain suffers from, it is clear that the only possible way out is new elections and a change of government. I hope that is precisely what happens, because it is what our country needs.”
In the image, he appears again dressed in a white shirt and jeans, in an image almost identical to the video he posted last Monday, just after the reports from the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) that tightened suspicions around the closest circle to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became known.
No. This is not the first time he has called for an early election. He did so on November 2 during an interview with ABC. “Spain urgently needs elections, the motion of no confidence cannot succeed.” And he insisted on the same idea five days later, during a talk at a Madrid university. “The Government will be outside the law if there are no elections or a vote of confidence.”
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This Monday, on his Instagram account, he went on the offensive again. “In this unsustainable situation in Spain, the phrase ‘those who can, should’ makes more sense than ever.” Former President Aznar, in fact, smiled at the camera as he spoke these words, aware of the impact they generated at the time.
“Because more than ever,” he insisted in his video also published on Facebook and Instagram, “we need responsible citizens, committed to our country, willing to do, to act, to serve our country to get out of this unsustainable situation we are in.”
The phrase “those who can, should” has already become a phrase of this legislature. It was spoken by Aznar on November 2, 2023, shortly before Pedro Sánchez’s investiture. “If the house is burning, we are not going to beat around the bush […] Those who can speak, let them speak. Those who can act, let them act. Each one in their responsibility.” He said it in a talk accompanied by Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
And he repeated it again in 2024, during an event with FAES, the organization he presides over. “The fate of Spain depends on [the Spaniards] ceasing to be spectators of their own ruin and becoming active agents to prevent the destruction of the constitutional system and the rule of law. That is what we have to do. An appeal to civic energy. It is the expression of the greatest political maturity that can be made. If we manage to do that, there will be hope.”
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