Vox
Vox is a political party in Spain that was formed on December 17, 2013 through the split of extreme right wing party members originally belonging to the Partido Popular (PP). The desire of the party is to rewrite the constitution such that it erases autonomous regional parliaments to establish one centralized government; Vox’s goal here being to reduce the size of the state. The party issued a manifesto in 2012, which can be found on their website, calling for this recentralization. They claim that with this centralized government, Spain can achieve a unified nation, state efficiency, improved institutions, honest public officials, and economic growth (VOX, “Manifiesto Fundacional”). The party had a hard time gaining traction in early elections, but in 2018 won 12 parliamentary seats in the Andalusian regional election. This put Vox in a regional parliament for the first time in the party’s history. As a result, Vox was also given its first seat in the Senate of Spain which was taken by Francisco José Alcaraz. In the 2019 general election, Vox entered the Congress of Deputies, Spain’s legislative branch, for the first time as well. Despite their rhetorically appealing claims, many have connected Vox to be the dark shadow of Francoism in a democratic age. The secretary general of Vox is the cousin to the president of the Francisco Franco National Foundation which hopes to paint the dictator’s memory in positive light. Both parties supporting the other. Many of the Vox ideology rings loudly with Franco ideology. Some of these ideas include: anti-Islam sentiments, antifeminism, deportation of Muslims in Spain, pro-Catholicism roots, and even had party members who were previously members of the Nazi party (Wikipedia, “Vox”).
Vox on Public Expenditures, Corruption, and Family
Vox is a party that is currently promoting many different issues. The first problem listed in their electoral program is the reduction of the public expenditures. They plan to lower this cost by reducing the number of public officials, promoting the fusion of town halls, and adopt a base zero budget system. However, their plan for the 2019 year does not stop there. The second issue that Vox plans to approach is the transparency of their officials in order to help gain more trust in public officials. They believe that everyone recognizes the corruption as a significant problem and give their call to action to fix this. Their call to action includes auditing public officials and all their entities, establishing a whistle blower process to protect the anonymity of those who report corruption, control of positions before, during, and after an official’s term and the demand for the funds to be returned if office is abandoned.
Another key issue for the Vox party is attempting to protect the equality of many different subsystems of Spaniards. For example, they plan to create family counseling options and more fiscal assistance for maternity leave and other similar aids. Not only do they plan on creating fiscal assistance for those who use maternity aids, they also plan on promoting more flexibility within jobs, promoting a reduction on property tax for families with children, establishing subsidize checks for school supplies and transportation, creating bonuses that accommodate the size of the family. They also plan to aid others such as: women, those with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, and other vulnerable populations.
Blog Administrator’s Note
Vox’s political platform also includes:
- Excluding the teaching of Islam in public schools.
- The belief that existing laws regarding violence against women actually discriminate against men.
- Eliminating all laws regarding LGBTQ rights as well as any laws they consider to be “radical feminism.”
- Repealing the 2007 Law of Historical Memory.
Authors: Hannah Berensen & Renee Cotton