Miriam González: "There should not be 69 deaths for Europe to investigate Adif"

Miriam González launches into the electoral arena and presents Democracy 21: "We cannot continue with two blocks without anything that favors consensus"

Lawyer Miriam González, founder and president of the new formation Democracia 21, will try her luck at the polls in the next general elections. He appears in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​and aspires to penetrate the system with a team that "does not come to make a living from politics" and promises to "generate consensus." Regarding the Urda accident, he denounces that limiting the assumption of responsibilities to two resignations is "whitewashing" what happened.

Is the resignation of Óscar Puente as Minister of Transport enough to clarify political responsibilities after the Urda accident?

It does not seem enough to me and from that same afternoon I asked that not only the minister resign, but also the entire leadership - which is politicized - of the Ministry of Transport, as well as Renfe and Adif. After this resignation of two people, we still have people there who did not know anything about Transport, or who knew but were there due to political affinities. That had to have changed after Adamuz and now, that it still has not changed, you cannot turn the page on all this simply by putting another minister in charge and bringing out Adif's highest point. That's almost whitewashing it.

You have denounced clientelism in Adif to Brussels and, in fact, the European Public Prosecutor's Office is carrying out requests after the tragedy.

Man, he has gone in to investigate, but there shouldn't have to be 69 deaths for the European Public Prosecutor's Office to be investigating all this. But one of the biggest things there is that not only are they investigating Adif and what has happened to those funds, but the Court of Accounts is also involved. The thing is that we have all the control bodies with politicization that must be put an end to quickly.

The 29-N is presented by Democracia 21. How would you define the party?

It is a party made by people who know their stuff, who are professionals, who do not come to make a living from politics and who want a change of cycle in the country's politics to ensure democracy and modernize the country.

Is democracy not assured at this time?

We have erosions that are very worrying, which have increased recently, but which have carried the system for too long. I think that the fact that in a situation like this there are few people who dare to seek representation and open the political landscape is one of the symptoms of things that do not work in our democracy.

What does it mean to vote for Democracy 21?

Vote for a change of cycle, for reforms and a radical change in the way the country is governed, for depoliticizing and depolarizing, and for beginning to focus on pragmatic solutions to real problems.

The elections are about whether or not President Pedro Sánchez will remain. Would you be open to supporting another Government headed by him?

I think Pedro Sánchez has to leave the Government, I think he knows it. Spain needs a change. I believe that a person who for eight years has failed to fulfill all promises of regeneration and reforms, even with unconstitutionalities - such as not presenting the Budgets -, and who has polarized the country so much, should not seek another mandate.

And about Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Vox?

We are here precisely to ensure that extremes do not enter the governance formulas. And one of the things that I think we all have to be clear about in the country is that the parties go beyond the people who run for the presidency of the Government. And in this particular case, we don't know very well who the candidates are going to be.

What ideological spectrum does the party move on?

In the ideological space of the other. We are all willing to put those small ideological differences aside and begin to agree. Let everyone sit where they want while we can begin to agree on fundamental things. And, come on, we have too many labels in Spanish politics for the few ideas that are circulating out there.

When they tell you that your candidacy is going to divide the vote, what do you respond?

Well, it seems incredible to me that they talk about dividing the vote, because if there is someone who has divided the vote, it is clearly everyone we have there now. We come to unite, not to divide, and I precisely believe that the most fundamental mission we can do is to put forces like Democracy 21 that help begin to generate consensus, at least on the most important points of the country's crucial policies.

What are the three main measures that Democracia 21 wants to promote if it reaches the Government?

We want to build, facilitate and protect. Those are the three leitmotifs of the housing program that we have just launched and, furthermore, we are launching it in stages. Let's go by priorities as they are. First the cleaning of the system - without that it is impossible to do anything else -, then the country's number one priority: housing, then education, and we will get the rest of the program out.

How does Democracy 21 differ from Ciudadanos?

They are different moments, circumstances and people. At the peak of Ciudadanos, 10 years ago, there was a very specific territorial situation in Spain. But since then a lot has changed. And I think what they agree on is that there is a part of the people who supported Ciudadanos who were interested in the reforms and modernization of the country, and that is common.