On April 7, 2019, parliamentary elections will be held in Andorra. The Andorran parliament will decide who will be the new head of government. The current head of government, Anthony Marty, is leaving his post after two mandates – the maximum possible eight-year period. On the eve of the elections, the general adviser of the mixed parliamentary group SDP, Viktor Naudi Zamora, told all-andorra.com about the candidates and their programs, and also explained why he criticizes the government of Anthony Marty:
“At present, Andorra has five candidates who are officially registered. They are Xavier Espot (Candidate from the Party of DA (Democrats of Andorra), Josep Roig – candidate of our party SDP (Party of Progressive Social Democrats), Jordi Gallardo – candidate of the Liberal Party, Pere Lopez – candidate of the Social Democratic Party of Andorra and Josep Pintat – candidate of the party Unió Laurediana (UL).
There are two more candidates who have not yet been officially confirmed. They are Ousebi Nomen – a right-wing group and Joan Segui, the group “Podem”, left-wing, part of the Spanish coalition “Podemos”.
As you know, Anthony Marty can no longer be elected because he has already served his eight-year mandate and this is the maximum term.
Candidates’ political programs are being corrected, but the basis is as follows: The DA Party will continue the policy of Anthony Marty, based on reforms that have not yet been implemented. This is a center-right policy.
Honestly, from my point of view, Anthony Marty did not manage to do anything significant in politics. He has not completed any of the reforms that he promised. Health care reforms are not complete, social security reforms, which should guarantee pensions, are also not completed. The association agreement with Europe is very vague: neither society nor businesses still clearly understand the advantages and disadvantages of concluding this agreement. Anthony Marty doesn’t really explain anything. The only thing in which he achieved great success is the tobacco business and the 30-year status quo, which is the wrong thing.
The banking reform – a compromise with Europe – was the only reform that was carried out. So we can say that this is the only positive example of his policy for the whole 8 years!
So, the current democratic program is based on the implementation of these reforms, but especially on the compromise.
Our party, PSD, is a center-left party. Priority is given to economic recovery. Our goal is to promote the well-being of people. We support an association agreement with the European Union. For us, this agreement is important for the future of our country. We support the reforms that are priorities, all those that Anthony Marty could not implement. And we will insist on their implementation.
The Liberal Party does not agree with the conclusion of an agreement with the European Union, it criticizes this initiative. At first, the liberals were categorically against it, now they take the position of continuing negotiations, but they are wasting time. I can say that the liberals are the most conservative. At the very beginning, they were the strongest opposers of the government of Anthony Marty. The Liberals and the UL were united, but a few months ago they disagreed. A liberal policy based on company freedom, Andorran independence, etc.
Pere Lopez more left than us. His party is more extremist. The main thing they offer is a progressive tax scale. But personally, I think that Andorran companies are not ready for this.
The election campaign begins 15 days before the election date, which is scheduled for April 7, so March 24th. The campaign will last for only 15 days.
You can vote all day from 7:00 to 19:00. It is also possible to take part in the voting within 15 days before the elections if the citizens of Andorra cannot come on April 7. You can even vote by mail, but this, however, is quite difficult.
The date of the last parliamentary meeting was February 15. On this day we voted on the approval of the budget of Andorra. I can say that this year’s budget has been cut from the point of view of investment. Budget revenues amount to 444.7 million euros, the deficit – 13 million euros. Public investment expenditures have been reduced this year to 35 million euros. In comparison, last year it was 50 million euros. The reason is that staff costs have increased significantly (there are more civil servants, their salaries are rising). And budget revenues do not increase. Well, such is the finale of the policy of Antony Marty!
On February 18, Anthony Marty submitted a list of all candidates. The government will continue to fulfill its powers, and the activities of the parliament will be suspended. Accordingly, the current government will not take any serious decisions.
If you ask me about what Anthony Marty achieved during his eight years, I would say there are no achievements. As I said, for 8 years he has not succeeded in carrying out the most important reforms. Wages are slowly increasing and the standard of living is growing rapidly. Rising prices for food and rental housing. This is the main thing for which I personally criticize the current government.
And the budget used to provide for more investment in the development of the country.
Indeed, Anthony Marty changed the law on foreign investment and opened the door for foreign investors. But it did not bring the expected results. Several serious foreign companies have come, but most are small firms that form pyramid schemes and use the economic system of Andorra to optimize their tax expenses. ”
Silvia Monet
