In Junts per Catalunya’s plans to reach 12-M there is a clear intention to polarize the campaign between its candidacy, with Carles Puigdemont at the head, and that of the socialists, with Salvador Illa at the head, winner by the minimum in the contest three years ago. Months ago, shortly after the agreement for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, JxCat targeted the first secretary of the PSC, with whom they had collaborated in the Parliament when opposing the Government of Pere Aragonès. With the approval of the Amnesty law, this dynamic was accentuated and as the voting date approaches, this trend will increase.
In that sense, the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, pointed out this Thursday that “the dilemma” of the May 12 elections is “if Puigdemont governs or if Sánchez does, not Puigdemont or Illa.” “If Puigdemont governs us or the PSOE governs us,” the leader added at the Fórum Europa Tribuna Catalunya information breakfast, organized by Nueva Economía Fórum.
The post-convergent leader has accused the leader of the Catalan socialists, Illa, of not doing anything “on his own initiative” and of never “defending something that bothers the PSOE.” “He only says yes when the PSOE, out of necessity, makes a virtue. From there it champions the causes, such as the amnesty,” added Turull, alluding to the defense that Sánchez made in public for the first time of criminal oblivion, before the pact for his investiture. He then claimed that he made a virtue of necessity.
Pulling from that same thread, the leader of JxCat has pointed out that these elections “are not just about who will lead the Government of the Generalitat.” “Also the future of the nation,” continued Turull, who believes that it is at stake “to decide or have them decide for you” and has stressed that Catalonia has to be the “priority” of the next Catalan executive, “without organic dependencies” on Madrid. and with a “single mortgage signed with the Catalans”.
Both Turull and the spokesperson for his party in the Congress of Deputies, Míriam Nogueras, who introduced him, have reproached the central government for the low budget execution in Catalonia. Both leaders have thus made reference to an issue that will be central to the JxCat campaign. Likewise, the post-convergent leader has defended “that tools and financing are needed for comprehensive management of immigration policies” and has taken pride in the negotiation with the PSOE for the transfer of powers in that area through article 150.2 of the Constitution. , which had not been used since 1996, with the transfer of traffic powers to the Generalitat. “Illa said it was not necessary,” Turull pointed out in reference to the immigration issue.
When it comes to vindicating his project, the post-convergent leader has asked non-independence supporters to also vote for Puigdemont. “He strengthens the negotiation in Madrid and reinforces us internally,” he stated. “It is the best guarantee for non-independence supporters who are fed up with Rodalies not working or paying taxes,” said the general secretary of JxCat.
Faced with the threat of abstention, which in 2021 was increased by the pandemic but also affected the independence movement in the previous electoral cycle, in the municipal elections in May and in the general elections in June of last year, Turull has warned that “staying at home does not change things” and has claimed that they have achieved, for example, that Catalan can be spoken in the Congress of Deputies.
In the act was the plana mayor of the post-convergent space, with the president of the Parliament, Anna Erra; members of the party leadership and the president of the parliamentary group, Albert Batet; the president of the formation, Laura Borràs; former councilors such as Josep Rull, Quim Forn, Meritxell Borràs, Jaume Giró, Lourdes Ciuró, Victòria Alsina; the training candidates for Tarragona, Lleida and Girona, Mònica Sales, Jeanninne Abella and Salvador Vergés respectively; members of Parliament and Congress as well as the former president of the Generalitat Artur Mas or the former convergent mayor of Barcelona, ??Xavier Trias.
