Plaid Cymru has today set out some of what it wants from Carwyn Jones if he wants the party’s support in avoiding stalemate in the Assembly.
AMs Elin Jones and Simon Thomas said Plaid wants the First Minister to publish a programme of government for the entire five-year term; an early indication of his likely budget priorities and to see how the legacy of the last government will be continued by this government.
Surely, I asked Simon Thomas, governments only publish programmes when, as happened with the One Wales coalition, they need to formalise agreements with other parties?
Not at all, he told me. Governments in fixed term parliaments often publish such programmes and in this case, it would give the other parties chance to debate the different plans on which Labour would be seeking co-operation.
On leadership matters, both Simon Thomas and Elin Jones agree that the timetable is up to the current leader Ieuan Wyn Jones who’s said he’ll step down sometime within the next two and a half years.
He’s said to prefer to go sooner rather than later but wants to oversee Plaid’s review into what went wrong at the election.
Simon Thomas said today that that review is due to last ‘well into next year’ and that Ieuan Wyn Jones should remain in post to lead it.
So I asked him if that meant there wouldn’t be a leadership contest this year.
‘There doesn’t need to be one,’ he said. ‘But it’s up to Ieuan Wyn Jones.’
When there’s a vacancy, will he be amongst the candidates? ‘When the time comes, I’ll say.’
Elin Jones meanwhile reiterated her position that she’ll ‘seriously consider it’ when the time comes.
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