He dismisses the 52% pro-independence majority as «fiction» and asks Aragonès to govern for 100%
The first secretary of the PSC, Salvador Illa, considers that the amnesty and self-determination defended by the Government of Pere Aragonès “are not the way” nor are they feasible, but rather that they are impractical and will generate frustration for those who defend them, according to their criteria.
In an interview with Europa Press, Illa has denied that the majority of Catalans are betting on the path of amnesty and self-determination, and has assured that what the majority wants is to improve the self-government of Catalonia; advance “fair financing”, guarantee prosperity and promote public security policies with respect for the Mossos d’Esquadra.
These are the four areas that the PSC prioritizes to establish itself as an alternative to the Government of Aragonès and to defend a path that they consider has realistic horizons and in which the whole of Catalan society fits: “They go with two things; I’m going with four ».
Asked about the dialogue table between the central government and that of the Generalitat and about the possibility of culminating in a referendum, he insisted that the Socialists rule out “voting for a break”, but support a referendum on an eventual agreement.
On whether he believes that the Government of Aragonès will be able to finish the legislature, he recalled that it began six months ago and has defended that Catalonia needs stability: “I would like there to be a Government that would last four years. And that we can in these four years draw an alternative path ».
He has insisted that the best service that the PSC can provide is to “offer an alternative” in Catalonia, and has advanced that the ‘Alternative Government’ in which he has organized his parliamentary group will update its work plan to draw more intensity on this proposal.
The 52% “fiction”
Illa has argued that affirming that there is a 52% pro-independence majority in the Parliament is a “fiction and a hoax”, because the Govern of ERC and Junts add up to 41.37% and with the CUP they do not reach 50%, so whoever defends this figure adds to parties that remained outside the Chamber, such as PDeCAT.
In any case, “a government must govern for 100% of Catalans, and not for 52%; Labeling itself as the Government of 52% is already a serious mistake, according to Illa, who has ensured that there has never been a 52% pro-independence majority and has ironized that adding and subtracting is within everyone’s reach.
“52% was a fiction from the beginning but, in addition, in the process of negotiating the Catalan Budgets it has been found that the majority of the investiture has been broken”, since the Government has approved them with an agreement with the communes, and not with the CUP.
Government delegates
Illa has celebrated that Catalonia has a Budget from January 1, but has said that they have implied “the breakdown of the majority of the investiture and evidence of the fragility of the Government.”
He has accused the Executive of Aragonès of not having taken advantage of the accounts to break inertia: the PSC estimates that there are between 1,000 and 1,500 million euros that could have been reprioritized, opening debates such as the reorganization of autonomous entities and public companies dependent on the Generalitat.
The socialist leader has also proposed to reflect on the need for delegates from the Generalitat in the four Catalan provinces and rethink their territorial structure, “at a time when in one day you can come and go from anywhere in Catalonia.”
But Illa sees a Government “very prisoner of inertia and internal agreements between the two members that form it, very paralyzed when it comes to looking objectively that it is a time to transform and change”, in a situation conditioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pandemic restrictions
Asked about the pandemic and the diversity of restrictions depending on each Autonomous Community, Illa remarked that this is what co-governance and a decentralized system consist of, and added that “each one must face the decisions they make.”
The former Minister of Health, who was vaccinated with the third dose last Friday, has called for prudence and to be vaccinated, and has assured that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, makes decisions from a “very scientific approach” of the evolution of the pandemic.
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