“We are in a completely different time, in a new time”, Pedro Sánchez warned yesterday about the new electoral candidacy of Carles Puigdemont. “Catalan citizens, on May 12, have a dilemma to resolve with their vote: if they want a Catalonia that looks forward or a Catalonia that looks back,” said the Prime Minister. Past, therefore, or future.
Despite the fact that at that time he was already immersed in the always intense negotiations of the European Council meeting in Brussels, Sánchez acknowledged yesterday that he did not take his eyes off the intervention in which Puigdemont confirmed the day before, from the French town of ‘ Elna, who will run again as a candidate in the Catalan elections.
And before and after Puigdemont’s announcement, in any case, Sánchez said the same thing to reduce the significance of his candidacy for the 12-M: “It’s the third time he’s running, it was like this in 2017 and 2021 “, remembered.
The former president of the Generalitat did not win the elections either of these times. In fact, in Moncloa they note that in the last appointment with the ballot boxes it came in third place, behind the PSC and ERC.
In addition, Sánchez assured that, according to his forecasts, the Barometer of the Center d’Estudis d’Opinió (CEO, the Catalan CIS) fell short, despite raising the electoral expectations of the PSC candidate, ex-minister Salvador Illa. “He will win by a wide margin, even more than what these demographic studies say”, he confided.
“Catalan citizens want to turn a corner”, highlighted Sánchez. And this means having a president of the Generalitat, with reference to Illa, “who unites and serves the whole of Catalan citizens”.
Beyond what one candidate or another says, he pointed out with reference to Puigdemont’s bid to successfully complete the independence process that began in October 2017, “the important thing is to look to the future and have a president that he dedicate himself to things, as Illa says”. The PSC, he remarked, “has the leader that Catalonia needs”.
The head of the Executive, therefore, described the Catalan socialists’ proposal as a “winning proposal”, due to the fact that they put the strengthening of public services at the center of their political project, to deal with the drought, education and health public sector or reindustrialisation, in addition to the boost to Catalonia’s self-government.
In this sense, Sánchez warned that, despite the threat of drought, the last desalination plant that was opened was in 2005. “We need to be careful,” said the Prime Minister.
“We will have an extraordinary result, even higher than what the polls indicate”, insisted Sánchez, who assured that the Socialists will win 12-M with “a lot of optimism”. “And, therefore, we will have the opportunity to open a new era in Catalonia”, he emphasized.
