The goal of the PP of Catalonia in 12-M is to grow “substantially” and, if the arithmetic goes along, to have the “key” to decide on the investiture and turn the page in terms of the process. The popular candidate, Alejandro Fernández, presented it again yesterday, but the circumstances of Spanish politics, the invitation of President Pedro Sánchez and his offensive introduce important nuances. If the eventual support of the PP for the PSC was already complex, it would be more difficult at this moment.
In a press conference at the Catalan News Agency, the popular candidate pointed out that he is running to “promote a new stage in Catalonia”, with other protagonists. To facilitate Illa’s investiture, he said, he would have to break the pacts with the pro-independence parties in Catalonia and Madrid, a scenario he sees as hardly viable today. Sánchez’s offensive after aiming for resignation and betting on a “democratic regeneration”, which in the opinion of the PP builds another “wall”, does not offer any incentive, at least during the campaign, to draw pact scenarios.
Rather on the contrary, if Sánchez’s movement generates deep adhesions in the socialist field, in the conservative field it generates an equally deep rejection. And, therefore, the PP campaign will continue to aim at the double Catalan and Spanish key: “Put an end to independence in Catalonia to also put an end to Sanchism”. A message that will be insisted on after this week of prominence by the president of the Spanish Government.
On Monday, after Sánchez announced his decision to continue in Moncloa, the populists already indicated that the 12-M will be the first opportunity for citizens to express themselves on this issue. The PP of Catalonia is confident that the debate in Spanish can help it mobilize a part of the vote that is more inclined to activate in the general elections.
The strategy followed in the Barcelona City Council, where the popular Daniel Sirera facilitated the mayoralty to the socialist Jaume Collboni, does not serve as a reference now, as pointed out by Alejandro Fernández. The Barcelona PP then had to choose between “the fire or the embers”, he said with reference to an independentist municipal government. “The scene in Parliament is all embers, because the PSC, Junts and ERC are together”, he stressed.
At noon, he went to the April Fair, where he met with Latin American organizations, and recalled the PP’s commitment to the Venezuelan opposition. Just when Sánchez was also visiting the site in the first public event after his reflection.
