The day the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana published the decree dissolving the Valencian Parliament and calling for regional elections, the PP put the keys to its campaign on the table. Its regional president and candidate for the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, after drawing a Valencian Community at the opposite of the bonanza described the day before by President Ximo Puig, brandished his main bets with a focused message and even with a social democratic varnish.
In his appearance, Mazón spoke of reinforcing public health and increasing its budget; housing as a social right (he promised to build 10,000 VPOs); free education from 0 to 3 years; energy independence and renewable energy and even sustainable development. A very moderate speech in which he called attention to the fact that he hardly mentioned the tax reduction that he has been defending since he was elected president of the popular Valencians.
In these highly thought-out statements, nothing is accidental and Mazón stressed his intention to lead “a future project for the Community for everyone, and always with loyalty and respect for the Spanish Constitution, the Statute of Autonomy and our hallmarks”. .
It was not the only key to the campaign that Mazón outlined. In the PP they are aware that the greatest electoral asset that their rivals have is the president of the Generalitat, even more than the brand. For this reason, it seems that the popular campaign is aimed at eroding the figure of the socialist candidate. Yesterday, Mazón recalled the case of Ximo Puig’s brother: “The Generalitat Valenciana itself obstructs the activity of justice because the defendant is the President’s brother, together with members of his government, after showering him with almost 2 million euros in non-profit subsidies justifiedâ€.
In addition, he criticized that the socialist leader folds before the government’s disregard to emphasize that the PP “is the only party that guarantees change in the Valencian Community and can confront Pedro Sánchez and his contempt.”
It is increasingly evident that Mazón is interested in a campaign on a national level. Yesterday he emphasized it twice: “The elections on May 28 go beyond any other election that has taken place in the Valencian Community and they do so because they are also going to send a clear message to the rest of Spain: change begins here” .
There are not a few analysts who argue that the change in the Valencian Community, as happened before the victory of José MarÃa Aznar, is essential for the turnaround in Spain. For this reason, Mazón defended that each citizen vote for the next 28M “in the key they want to vote for” and, in clear reference to Puig’s commitment to circumscribe the debates to the Valencian agenda, the PP leader was in favor of “setting trends national and “not to encapsulate the Valencian Community”.
After the call for the candidate for the Presidency came that of the candidate for Mayor, MarÃa José Catalá, who announced her campaign slogan -¡Ganas!- and that, symbolically, the MEP Esteban González Pons would close the list to the City Council. Catalá, convinced of her good prospects, made it clear that her intentions are not to have to seek the support of Vox to be elected mayor.
The mayoral candidate has an advantage over her colleague Mazón and that is that it is enough for her to be the most voted force as long as the sum of the left does not obtain an absolute majority. And it is that if no candidate receives the support of the 17 necessary councillors, the one who heads the most voted list is directly elected. And Catalá does not want to depend on Vox; although he is aware that, even with that formula to approve budgets and ordinances, it would be necessary to seek the support of the extreme right.
