The PSC candidate for the May 12 elections, Salvador Illa, is clear that the rival at the polls is Junts and that the result that Puigdemont obtains, together with the magnitude of the fall that ERC may suffer, may end up tipping the balance. . Illa knows he is the winner, as all the polls have indicated for months, but the question is how big the distance is with Junts and the sum of the pro-independence parties. Furthermore, the stability of the Government of Spain is based on the post-convergent formation, which has already shown signs of its fluctuation in Congress. Under these premises it is understood that Illa has opted today to form a “transversal” Government if he wins the Catalan elections, from which he did not want to exclude, on purpose, Puigdemont’s party.
In an interview on Cadena Ser, Illa spoke concisely for the first time about possible post-electoral pacts. To date, the party had limited itself to pointing out the aspiration to govern alone and to prioritize left-wing agreements, but the PSC candidate has drawn two possible scenarios after 12-M, two “surprises”, in his words : “That of a transversal government that I want to represent, that is supported by a very transversal majority of Catalan society”, and the other, for him negative, “that the Catalan version of hate speech (Aliança per Catalunya) obtains representation and conditions the Catalan independence movement in an even worse direction than we have known.” In short, either a transversal majority led by the PSC or the independence movement turning to the nationalist extreme right to try to gain a majority.
The duo presented by Illa is nothing more than the PSC’s response to the attacks it has been receiving lately from ERC and Junts. From the Republicans warning of a possible alliance to govern of socialists and post-convergents, and from Puigdemont’s party flatly rejecting a possible agreement with the PSC that they have already set as a red line since Pere Aragonès announced the electoral call. The strategy also has to do with what happened with the President of the Government and the “harassment” he receives from the right and the extreme right.
The PSC uses the scarecrow of the extreme right-wing pro-independence party to attack Junts, and responds to the veto imposed by the former president’s candidacy to reach an agreement with Illa with an outstretched hand that has all the credibility, since the entente between both formations has been cultivated to throughout the legislature despite what happened with the mayor of Barcelona.
In Ser, Illa has opted for “a strong, stable, “transversal” government and from which Junts has not been excluded, something that has been justified by the need for there to be no situation of blockade after the elections that could lead to a period of uncertainty and a repeat election. “I am going to run for office if I win the elections and I would like to form a strong and stable government,” Illa assured.
As the polls stand, the PSC will have around 40 seats and would only be able to govern with Junts, or perhaps with ERC. So Illa did not want to rule out Puigdemont’s party from possible agreements, although he knows that it will not happen. “Let’s see what results Junts has and what Junts decides to do.” “We have collaborated in other institutions,” recalled the first secretary of the PSC.
When it comes to making a decision about possible pacts, the real options for an agreement with Junts are even more dissipated. “I will act with three criteria: stability, social democracy and putting public services first,” Illa summarized. In this sense, the number two on the list, Alícia Romero, showed shortly afterwards in a press conference from Badia del Vallès that “Junts is not exactly social democratic” although the understanding within the Parliament during the legislature has been optimal.
The socialist candidate has also spoken about Pedro Sánchez’s period of reflection and his final decision. “Many citizens have been surprised by the more human Pedro Sánchez,” he noted. “Sometimes there is an enormous rush to conquer power at any price and I do not share this.” “The dirty war does nothing to help Spanish democracy and I am proud to be part of the party that has put an end to this,” he added.
