Political Parties in Les Corts Unite to Allow Former Deputies to Receive Up to 2,400 Euros a Month in Unemployment Benefits

Political groups in Les Corts (PP, PSPV, Compromís, and Vox) have defended the unanimous agreement reached this Tuesday to establish unemployment benefits for former regional deputies, as they believe it benefits political activity, aligns the Valencian Parliament with other chambers, and does not constitute any "privilege".

This is how the four spokespeople assessed the agreement reached in the Internal Government Commission to establish unemployment benefits for deputies who leave their seats after holding them for a minimum of 18 months. They will not be retroactive, will be paid for a maximum of two years, and will not be compatible with positions in the administration or private companies. They will come into effect when the agreement is published in the Les Corts Bulletin.

From the PP, Juanfran Pérez Llorca thanked all the parties for their "courage" in reaching an agreement that, as he emphasized, is present "in all assemblies of all Spain's autonomies" and that "was only missing in the Valencian Community". He also defended that this agreement is "good for parliamentarism and political activity".

In this regard, he argued that they have tried to establish unemployment compensation "as similar as possible" to that of salaried workers, given that, "unfortunately", the law prevents it from being "exactly the same". He denied that this situation grants "a privilege" to the deputies.

Regarding the "technical issues" of the agreement, Pérez Llorca pointed out that they will be detailed when published once it passes through the Les Corts Bureau. As for the amount to be deducted from the parliament's surpluses, he specified that the allocation will be "progressive" as the legislature progresses.

"At this time, none of the deputies could receive this unemployment benefit because none have reached 18 months," he stated. In fact, he suggested that if the parliament were dissolved today and elections were called, "no deputy could receive it" as this period has not elapsed.

Among the opposition groups, the PSPV spokesperson, José Muñoz, insisted that politicians should have "the same right as any worker" to receive unemployment benefits. "Here we will not have more or fewer rights," he remarked, ensuring that the benefit will not mean "one euro more for Valencians or for Les Corts" because "it comes from treasury surpluses".

Although he acknowledged that it is "an unpopular opinion", he defended the need for people with few resources to be able to enter politics so as not to "lose the representativeness of a large part of the population".

Regarding whether they will contribute to Social Security, Muñoz explained that they have "no possibility" of doing so, but guaranteed that for the PSPV it is "the medium and long-term will" and for this they will "study" it through Congress.

As the Compromís spokesperson, Joan Baldoví agreed on the need to regulate the "anomaly" that former deputies of Les Corts did not receive this benefit, as it is something "regulated in almost all regional parliaments and in the General Courts". He assures that "it is an absolutely normal thing," he emphasized.

Baldoví assured that this benefit will go ahead "without costing one euro more to Les Corts" because "there has been a reduction in allocations to make it possible without increasing the budget".

Regarding whether former deputies will contribute to Social Security, he explained that his group proposed in the Internal Government Commission that they could do so "in one way or another", but "the lawyers said it was not possible".

For his part, the Vox spokesperson, José Mª Llanos, defended the unemployment benefits agreement for "equality, justice, and alignment" with other workers who become unemployed, in addition to emphasizing that "it is not a severance pay or compensation".

Llanos stressed that the document is "very restrictive", progressive from 18 months worked, without retroactive effect, and without considering supplements such as mileage.

"If only those who, after leaving office, already have their economic needs covered can dedicate themselves to politics, we will be saying as in ancient Rome: cursus honorum. And that, certainly, does not seem to us to be defensible in these times and in democracy," argued this spokesperson, who specified that he will not receive the benefit "in any way" if he ceases because he is a civil servant.