The first secretary of the PSC and leader of the opposition in Catalonia, Salvador Illa, has launched his traditional end-of-year political message in which he has emphasized what in his opinion are the great pending issues for Catalonia and which he has summarized in one: to have a Government that “is up to the task, that governs”, to overcome the last 10 years, in reference to the independence process, “which have not been good for Catalonia”.
“We all deserve a government that lives up to it, with priorities that are those of the citizens. May you face them without excuses, with self-demand, with humility, with a spirit of service. A government, in short, that governs,” says Illa in the message recorded in the Parliament chamber.
For the leader of the PSC, the recipe is “civic, political and political commitment”, which is what has moved the central government, as he points out, to promote “the hope that means the total reunion of Catalans with ourselves and with the rest of Spaniards”, and it is what moves the town councils of Catalonia. A role, that of the town councils, that Illa wanted to highlight in his message warning the current Government that “Catalonia cannot be governed without the town councils.”
The socialists have been denouncing precisely that the Executive of Pere Aragonès has not counted on the city councils when it comes to governing or managing issues as complex as the serious drought that is plaguing Catalonia, while the PSC has stressed the need to “collaborate” with the councils instead of posing more difficulties to them.
The drought, present in Illa’s message this end of the year, is part of a certainly negative balance of the Government’s action, according to the head of the opposition. In fact, in this message there was no space for the usual messages of collaboration and willingness for understanding and agreement that the PSC leader usually accompanies his criticism of the Catalan Executive. On the contrary, “if we abstract ourselves from the noise and take a real stock of these last 10 years,” for Illa we are faced with “ten years that we have to leave behind, ten years that we have to turn the page on.”
The reasons that make him think this way are three: the drought, the results of the PISA report on education in Catalonia, the infrastructure and the low generation of renewable energy: “We have a drought and Catalonia is not sufficiently prepared to face it; We are behind in education, if we compare ourselves with the rest of Spain; We do not have the infrastructure we need to generate prosperity in our country, and having been leaders in renewable energy we now find ourselves behind Spain. This is the real balance of the last ten years.”
For the year that is about to begin, the leader of the PSC considers that the Catalans must “reaffirm the will to be and to live together” among themselves, with the Spanish and the Europeans and, aware that it will surely be the year in which elections in Catalonia again, has launched a message of optimism and change: “We know how to do it better, we can do it better, we have done it better in the past and we will do it better in the future.”
Illa confirmed a few weeks ago his intention to run again to lead the party and run for the presidency of the Generalitat. It will be at a congress that the party will hold next March in Barcelona. Taking into account that the electoral machinery will be at full capacity in a few weeks, the socialist leader has advanced where his campaign will take: to act with “generosity” and “humility”, because “this is not the time for triumphalism, nor for giving lessons, nor receive them.”
