The Catalan Government and the formations with parliamentary representation met this Saturday to finalize the preparations for the regional elections. Everyone in Catalan politics, both the Executive and the parties, although a good part of them do not agree, they have assumed that the elections will be on February 14. The Government and most of the formations would like to postpone the electoral appointment, although they trust the measures implemented by the administration so that the vote is as safe as possible.
The Catalan Government insisted this Saturday that the elections would have to be postponed for health reasons but at the same time conveyed to the parties that everything is ready and that the elections will be safe. Among other issues, the Government proposes to carry out antigen tests to the members of the polling stations, who must wear personal protective equipment (PPE) in the time slot in which infected and quarantined people can vote, which goes from 7 to the 8.
THE CANDITATES:
- Carlos Carrizosa – Citizens.
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Ciudadanos was the winning formation of the last Catalan elections of 2017. But the polls predict a sharp fall for the orange party.
- Carles Puigdemont – Junts.
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JxCat gave the bell 4 years ago, by being in second position and maintaining the presidency with its pact with ERC. Puigdemont and Borràs are in tandem on the charts.
- Pere Aragonès – Esquerra.
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Esquerra leads a good part of the polls and fights against his own ghosts from the past in which he always won the polls and lost the elections.
- Salvador Illa – PSC.
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The Socialists are currently the fourth force in Parliament and aspire to become the winning formation of the elections.
- Jéssica Albiach – Cat. In Comú.
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The commons are the fifth force and the polls do not indicate that they can improve positions. Albiach debuts as a candidate.
- Dolors Sabater – CUP.
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The CUP bets on the former mayor of Badalona to try to scratch votes from Esquerra, JxCat and the commons. It currently has 4 deputies.
- Alejandro Fernández – PP.
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The popular ones hit rock bottom in 2017. They have signed Lorena Roldán and Eva Parera. They could double their current four seats.
- Ignacio Garriga – Vox.
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It is taken for granted that the extreme right will break into Parliament for the first time. The CIS predicted up to 10 deputies.
- Àngels Chacon – PDeCAT.
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After breaking with Carles Puigdemont, the heirs of Convergència aspire to obtain representation in the Catalan Chamber.
All the actors of Catalan politics conspired this Saturday in the meeting to call for participation to avoid a high abstention that could undermine the legitimacy of the result. It remains to be seen, if the Government will fight until the end to postpone to May 30, as Pere Aragonès warned after the resolution of the TSJC that provisionally suspended the postponement, and if the Catalan Government will modify the decree and propose an alternative date, like the one for the month of March that the Socialists proposed in the previous meeting.
State Operation
The parties tried this Saturday to polish the last fringes of the organization of the elections with the Government, but they are already fully involved in the campaign, which will formally begin next Friday. The first stages of the electoral race are marked by the almost generalized attacks against the Minister of Health and candidate of the PSC, Salvador Illa.
ERC, JxCat, commons, Ciudadanos and PP placed the socialist leader at the center of the campaign this Saturday, almost like the enemy to beat. They criticized him for campaigning in the middle of the third wave of the pandemic. And they urged him to answer if he will accept Vox’s votes (it was the ultra-right formation itself that offered itself) to reach the presidency.
Pere Aragonès insisted on the idea that both Illa and the TSJC are part of a “state operation” to defeat the independence movement. Republicans are blowing up all bridges with the PSC, making possible post-election deals even more difficult. Both parties point out that a tripartite is “impossible”, even more so after distancing as a consequence of the electoral non-postponement. If something has caused the chaotic start of the campaign at the moment, without the final date being known yet (it will be known on February 8), it is the rapprochement between JxCat and ERC, doomed to repeat the independence government. The electoral race was initially planned as a fratricidal duel between the two secessionist parties, but now it is a struggle between the two against the PSC. “Illa is silent before Vox, one of the most harsh fascisms in Europe,” said Carles Puigdemont this Saturday. Pablo Casado also attacked the minister.
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