Page's right-hand man praises him as the PSOE's "lit candle" in the face of "darkness."

The First Vice President of Castilla-La Mancha, José Luis Martínez Guijarro, has reflected on the role of the regional president, Emiliano García-Page, whom he considers "the most reliable politician in this country," a statement he defends "absolutely clearly." Along these lines, he asserts that he now acts as a "lit candle" within the PSOE in the face of "darkness."

A solvency "founded on his consistency, his ability to work, his ability to listen to people, his commitment to his land."

"He is very focused and concerned about certain trends that could harm the country as a whole and Castilla-La Mancha," he asserts, adding that although he presides over this territory, "he has Spain in mind from the perspective of defending the interests of Spain as a whole."

In his opinion, García-Page "is playing a key role" in keeping "the flame of what many understand to be the Socialist Party in a classic, social democratic way."

And, he asserts, "keeping that flame burning is key," since in national politics there are "cycles" and, in some of them, "the power goes out," a scenario in which "it's important for someone to keep the flame burning so that people return their attention to that flame."

"That's what Emiliano García-Page is doing clearly, and he's doing it very well, based on his consistency and coherent approach," he emphasizes.

Expanding on the metaphor, he asserts that keeping a candle lit doesn't mean there are ashes around it. "You can keep a candle lit, and when everything is lit, a flame doesn't matter. But when the rest of the lights go out, what remains is the lit candle."

The processing of the statute, an example of "normality"

Among the achievements he attributes to the regional president, he cited as an example the consensual processing of the reform of the Statute of Autonomy with the Popular Party, already endorsed in the regional Parliament and on its way to passage in Congress.

A demonstration of "the normality and possibility of dialogue" that, in his opinion, does exist in Castilla-La Mancha, but which is lacking in the national arena.

A prior agreement between the Socialists and the Popular Party (PPS) now has to materialize in the Lower House of Parliament on Carrera de San Jerónimo, along a path that does not rule out the possibility of the parliamentary groups presenting "amendments that further improve the text" with the premise of "maintaining the agreement."

A text that, as far as the Castilian-Manchegan government knows, has not yet received any proposals for revision from the groups.

However, there have been contacts from the Artificial Intelligence Agency, which has expressed interest in the content of the new Statute regarding this issue in order to "coordinate actions."

"But no parliamentary group has informed us that it intends to submit any amendments , although they can be raised once the parliamentary process begins, and we will have to deal with it as normal," he indicated.

However, he is confident that there will be no withdrawal by any member of the Popular Party, as happened with Murcia parliamentarians in the reform attempt promoted by former regional president José María Barreda, which ultimately failed.

"One of the goals we set for ourselves was to remove all the edges from this text that might raise suspicion from that perspective ," he says.