The PSC does not want to enjoy the so-called 100 days of grace that the opposition traditionally grants to a new government when it takes over from another after an election. If the socialist candidate, Salvador Illa, manages to govern, it is assumed that his arrival at the Government will be noticed on the first day by the large number of measures that he plans to begin implementing, most of them of a social nature, but which also includes the promotion of new financing for Catalonia, although the candidate himself has already warned on more than one occasion that this undertaking will generate “reluctance here and there” and that it will not be easy or quick to undertake.
In a press conference following the meeting of the executive committee of the party that has once again designated MEP Javi López as a candidate for the European elections, the party has made an effort to reinforce the message of commitment to the measures that Illa has been announcing since that the pre-campaign began. This set of electoral promises that have to do with culture, health, education, security, the fight against drought, aid to the most disadvantaged, infrastructure or regional financing, will be included in the electoral program that the PSC will present in a couple of days along with the new slogan and campaign image.
The party’s spokesperson, Núria Parlon, has reviewed the bulk of these programmatic proposals aimed at “opening a new stage in Catalonia” after “a lost decade” with successive pro-independence governments that have made “bad decisions, late and often with disloyalty towards the local world”. Among the measures are the commitment to allocate 2% of GDP to culture; position linguistic policy as a “transversal policy dependent on the Department of the Presidency
In terms of security, increase the police force by 570 net police forces per year, discounting retirements; create a special police unit to fight against mafias, multiple recidivism and illegal occupations with a criminal component, and create a specific general police station to fight against sexual violence.
In terms of inequality, extend aid to single-parent families to make them equal to large ones. In housing, undertake a renovation plan to improve homes that are more than 50 years old and allocate aid to the 30,000 people who need it most to adapt their homes to situations of dependency or special needs. And in health, reach a pact for health to allocate 7% of GDP to these policies.
Illa has also promised to approve an omnibus decree as soon as he reaches the Government with measures and resources (3.5 billion euros) to fight against drought. He has also committed to creating a self-government commissioner who will be in charge of carrying out an audit of public services and protecting by law the revaluation of the income sufficiency indicator,
Finally, the PSC candidate has also proposed reaching a “fair” financing pact that would allow sufficient resources to be obtained for the public services provided in Catalonia. In this sense, Parlon has assured that the plan is to promote this measure in these first 100 days of government and, in fact, he has assured that “many colleagues are in line to relaunch the pact for financing now”, while sources from the party assure that the Ministry of Finance has been working for months on the possibility of adapting the PSC’s proposals regarding financing.
But in the PSC, Illa’s appearance in Congress to testify about the Koldo case, which the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has referred to in an electoral key, is also news. Junqueras has pointed out that he only denies the pact with Illa if it is proven that he is linked to the case: “It is evident that corruption is always a red line,” he pointed out, something that has not gone down well at the PSC headquarters.
Parlon has responded to the ERC leader, regretting that “they want to discredit Illa’s image and let corruption fly when there is an electoral campaign. In Santa Coloma we saw it with Mr. Rufián,” the spokesperson recriminated. Parlon has distanced himself from the Republican’s attitude, ensuring that “we do not put red lines, and Junqueras, he will know”, but “Illa does not go before a judge, he appears before Congress and the Senate.”
Parlon has defended Illa’s “immaculate management” when he was Minister of Health and has reproached his opponents for “having nothing more to contribute to the campaign than trying to discredit his image” because, deep down, “they have a little distaste for him.” fear”.
