“Raise Catalonia.” That is one of the mantras that all Junts candidates repeat in this campaign for the Parliament elections on May 12 and the party’s demand to attract votes and try to mobilize those who have doubts or those who abstained in the previous electoral cycle. The party is second in the polls and is also trying to avoid the dispersion of the vote among other minor forces to snatch first place from the PSC and have a chance of leading the next Catalan executive with Carles Puigdemont, who sees himself as the winner and warns that 12- M is “a great opportunity” for Catalans to take out their “secret weapon”, the vote. “Let’s blow up the ballot boxes,” Puigdemont has asked, ironically regarding the accusations of terrorism against him in the cause of Democratic Tsunami.
“In the remaining days, it is more important than ever that we emphasize that this is about two possibilities for Catalonia,” Puigdemont said this Saturday at the central event of the training. “There is the alternative presented by the PSC, that we already see its true face and that they cannot hide their alleged moderation under layers,” said the former Catalan president in reference to the words of the president of UGT Catalunya and member of the Salvadoran candidacy. Illa, Matías Carnero, in which he said that the former president had left Catalonia in a trunk. “[The PSC] will only be able to govern Catalonia hand in hand with those who have sunk Barcelona,” Puigdemont has warned about the commons of Jéssica Albiach and Ada Colau. “It is with those people that Barcelona has sunk,” he insisted. “They have agreed with the PP for the mayor’s office, they have demonstrated alongside Vox and they cannot make us believe that they have another option,” he added.
“The other option is what the people of Junts and beyond represent,” he countered right after. “The option is to build Catalonia for the future,” she stressed. “We are also very clear about the attitude with which we have to defend Catalonia. “We must restore the hope,” prescribed the former president, who reiterated this Saturday that if an economic agreement is not approved so that Catalonia can manage and collect 100% of the taxes, the general budgets of the State will not be approved. “If we do not have 100% management of taxes in Catalonia and we do not reverse the unsustainable fiscal deficit, we will vote no to the Spanish budgets and we are the only ones who can say so.” “Do you want management? Here you have it,” exclaimed the former president. “Is there any other party that has that button when it sits in front of the Spanish president?” Puigdemont asked, referring to Aragonès and Illa. “The other way around,” he said.
In any case, the post-convergent leader has admitted that this situation of strength is temporary. “It is true that it is circumstantial and we have it now. Now is the time,” he noted. “It’s over being docile,” he concluded.
Thus, in his speech the former president proposed “getting Catalonia out of the hole” and preparing for the future. “Today’s policies are not useful for managing tomorrow’s problems. That is what Illa proposes, to move forward, to move forward,” stated the candidate. “We have not thought about the fact that the country no longer had six million people, but eight. It cannot happen to us that when we are ten million the same thing happens to us again: collapsed trains, airports that go nowhere, that there is no access to water”; Puigdemont has warned, who has advocated “preparing Catalonia for the demographic challenge.” “It is not a comfortable debate and it is not profitable for any government, it is for future governments,” the leader continued, after talking about immigration and the aging of the population.
Likewise, he has promised that if they lead the executive they will demand that “all Catalans, whatever they vote for, whatever language they speak, be treated as first-class citizens.” “Only an independent Catalonia has the capacity to guarantee that citizens in Catalonia are treated as first-class citizens,” she continued later. “Today Spain cannot guarantee that, it has never done so,” she concluded.
“The elections are about preparing the Catalonia of the future, so that all Catalans are treated as first-class citizens. It is not just wanting to govern and manage. It is necessary for someone to command and lead, to make uncomfortable decisions. That when you have an infrastructure that steps on the heels of your socialist mayor, you make the decision. Have courage. That is commanding,” the former president summarized in reference to the expansion of the El Prat airport. “Determination, leadership and deep esteem for the country and its people. Determination to know how to say no. We are not bluffing and if we say no, it means no. And if yes, yes. Leadership means being in charge, decisions are made in Catalonia. We will not allow ourselves to be ruled by Moncloa and its interests will never come before the interests of the Catalans under any circumstances.” “Turning the page is a docile government that stops poking noses. Leading is dealing face to face with the State and without your hands tied, without owing them anything. It also means one’s own voice in the world, a voice that is not protected,” he concluded.
“If we mobilize the electorate we can win.” It is the thesis that Junts has maintained for days, although the polls maintain the socialists as the first force and the campaign messages are all in that direction. The post-convergents are calling for massive mobilization to turn around the polls and promise that if they lead the Government of the Generalitat, all Catalans will be treated as “first-class citizens”, with the promise of standing before the central government and not approving any general budget of the State if an economic agreement is not approved and 100% of the taxes are not transferred to the Catalan administration.
Before starting the rally inside the pavilion of the Jean Carrère venue, Puigdemont greeted the people who were not able to enter and assured that Junts will win the elections on May 12. A statement that he later repeated inside. According to the party, around 3,000 people gathered in Argelers today. The former Catalan president has finished the rally outside.
