The parties of the Foral Parliament have agreed in plenary session promoted by the Navarra Network against Poverty and Social Exclusion the main lines of the new strategic plan against poverty and social exclusion. Among them is the pending tax reform, also supported by the PSN.

The Network, made up of 33 entities working in the field of social intervention, was held following the intensive diagnosis made in Parliament itself on 17 October, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. “The Network’s Vice-President, Myriam Gómez-García, called for the excessively short deadlines for laws and measures aimed at the most disadvantaged and for all political signs to unite in a single pact.”

According to the poverty rate AROPE, since the pandemic there have been 20,000 more Navarros in vulnerable situations. 12.3% of the population were poor in 2020 and 14.7% today. That is, poverty has grown by 2.4% and “the situation will worsen as a result of the war in Ukraine and the inflation caused by it”, said Social Rights Minister Carmen Maeztu.

Navarre proposal Sum of aid reductions

Although all parties agree on the need to develop the plan as soon as possible, particularly in view of the winter, the plenary debate has acquired an electoral tone from the outset. In this regard, the debate has focused more on party criticism and the defence of the policies themselves than on developing the capacity of the plan.

Coalition spokesman Suma, Jorge Esparza Navarra, has strongly criticized government management based on the increase in the poverty rate. Nuria Medina of the PSN and Isabel Aranburu of Geroa Bai, for their part, highlight that Navarra is the community with the lowest rate of poverty at the state level and remember that in 2014 it was the worst data in history under the orders of the UPN, with 14.7% of the population in poverty.

In this sense, all parties have condemned Navarra Suma, raising the contradictions between the intervention of Esparza and its contributions. In fact, two of the three proposals of the right-wing coalition were aimed at strengthening guaranteed income measures, while the other was in favour of building more homes without specifying whether they were public or private. The proposals of Navarre Suma were supported only by their 20 parliamentarians.

On the contrary, all the proposals by PSN, Geroa Bai, Left-Ezkerra and Ahal Dugu have been approved: quality job creation, guaranteed income increase, integration of the feminist perspective in support, greater protection of minors, easier access to papers or a fairer distribution of wealth, etc. Although the three proposals of EH Bildu are in the same vein, for example guaranteeing the minimum wage in all collective agreements, in all of them the PSN abstained and Navarre Suma voted against, annulling the proposals.

It remains to be seen to what extent the plan will be developed. This is the opposition's concern, according to Marisa of Simon, Left-Ezkerra spokesman: “I don’t know if tax reform is not going to be a fraud, because after three years the government has not even touched corporate taxes.”