Salvador Illa has a difficult task before him: to convince ERC to lend him their votes for the investiture, but the Republicans are in a major internal crisis as a result of the results of 12-M to which a new electoral campaign is added. , that of the European elections of June 9. Consequently, the PSC leader is willing to give “all the time” necessary for ERC to clarify its path. Without rushing, but without pause. It is about Oriol Junqueras’ party reorienting its political line in favor of the formation of a “stable” Government, with progressive convictions.
“Let us give time to reorient or reaffirm the political line to follow,” Illa said in an interview on Cadena Ser in the face of the open crisis in ERC, a formation with which he has shown “enormous respect” and to which he has recognized “the relevant role that it has had and has in Catalan politics.” The PSC leader did not want to add pressure on the Republicans at this time but he has shown his “confidence that we will know how to respond to the will expressed at the polls.” For his part, he has reiterated that he will assume the role that arises from them “with an inclusive will.”
After recognizing the “very dignified” behavior of Aragonès with his resignation the day after the ERC electoral failure, Illa has indicated that “there is time” to try to overcome his investiture, an undertaking that he wants to undertake “following the guidelines dictated by the Statute.” and with high doses of “discretion”, he explains, since we are once again in the electoral campaign period.
Contrary to what the PP is trying to spread, Illa has closed the door to investing Puigdemont, of whom he recalled that “he said he would leave.” “Let’s see if and when he does it. And if it happens, how does your political space deal with the situation,” he commented after expressing his “respect” for the formation led by the former president.
“In my case I think I can have the support (to be sworn in as president) and I am going to work on it,” and he has extended the warning to the PP about the need to accept the “reality principle” that the socialists launched at Puigdemont the next day. of election night. “The PP leaves 20% of the population of Spain on the sidelines”, that is, Catalonia, while trying to find “votes” in the rest of the State, and “what they should do is a policy in Catalonia that is in tune with the will of the majority of Catalans” because “it is still out of reality in Catalonia”, he has warned.
The socialist leader believes that the political cycle has changed in Catalonia, so that after the blocs for the process there has been a “change of level” in which the traditional left-right axis will have weight instead of the identity axis, as until now . And in this new contest, the “12-M claims a different, serene way of doing politics, with a different language, away from the constant anger and the worse the better” that contradicts the PP strategy.
In short, “we are in a different stage in Catalonia”, according to Illa, as demonstrated by her impression that “there is more talk about the process in Madrid and in the PP than in Catalonia”, which reinforces the change of cycle in the Catalan politics. “What corresponds now, and this is what voters endorse, are public services, and this is management but it is politics,” Illa warned. In this way, the socialist insists on putting as “first priority” the improvement of these services, which “require management but are political because it is what allows prosperity and social justice.” A clearly progressive plan.
Aware that the first step towards the investiture is the formation of the Board and the election of the president of the Parliament, the leader of the PSC has insisted on discretion as a consequence of the new electoral campaign. “But we are already working and the Table has to reflect the plurality of the Parliament,” he accepted, so that “predictably” it should represent the eight political groups that will have seats in the Catalan Chamber. Illa’s approach is to act with an “open outlook and make it compatible with this European campaign.”
Regarding the configuration of the new Government, Illa believes that there are “different options” but he did not want to reveal anything. “Let us give time to reorient or reaffirm the political line to follow,” he insisted. Although the configuration of “a stable government” and with “progressive convictions” will be key, but “I am open to generosity and dialogue with all political formations except those that advocate hate speech,” he concluded.
