He refuses to preside over Junts, sees Pujol as a “reference” and rejects unity if it is in exchange for ‘chairs’
ARGELÈS-SUR-MER (FRANCIA), 28 Apr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Junts candidate for the Catalan elections, Carles Puigdemont, has assured that he sees options to be invested in the second vote as president, a possibility that he does not believe the PSC candidate, Salvador Illa, has, with whom he has ruled out negotiating, together with PP. , Vox and Aliança Catalana (AC).
“If in the end Catalonia must have an investiture of a president of the Generalitat in the second vote, I believe that we have options to be able to overcome this investiture. I believe that candidate Illa does not have this option,” he said in an interview in Europe. Press.
He sees no possibility of Illa achieving an absolute majority because he will need to reach an agreement with ERC and the Comuns, or present himself to the investiture without having guaranteed support “and wait to see if the flute and the PP sound, in one of those things that say that They are casual and there is nothing casual about them, they end up giving him the votes.”
Puigdemont confirms that this is what happened with the now mayor of Barcelona, ??Jaume Collboni (PSC), at his inauguration, but he would see it as “catastrophic” if it were repeated to reach the Generalitat.
When asked if Junts could support the socialist candidate, he responded that it would be contradictory and that it would make no sense to support someone who wants to “solve the problems of Catalans by agreeing with the PP.”
In his opinion, Illa has no choice but to govern with ERC and with the Comuns and agree on a tripartite, which none of the parties have denied, he says: “They have not denied it. I do openly deny that there could be a Government with the socialists”.
He has ruled out negotiating his possible investiture and the government program with PP, Vox and AC, but points out that there are political rivals interested in placing parties in Parliament that do not yet have representation, in reference to AC, Sílvia Orriols’ party.
In his opinion, this happened with the PDeCAT in the 2021 Catalan elections, which obtained 77,000 votes and prevented Junts from being “the winning force of the independence movement and being able to propose a presidency of the Generalitat.”
When asked if he will accept AC’s votes to be inducted, he has explicitly answered no and has refused to talk about them even though Illa has “a lot of interest in making this phenomenon big.”
“I would tell Mr. Illa to look at what happened to Mr. Mitterrand and the Socialist Party of France when they played precisely with this,” he warned.
He has emphasized recovering independence unity and has committed to “positively changing” the relationship they have with ERC, to work side by side and to reinforce trust and mutual respect, although he admits that it will not be easy.
Puigdemont is not interested in this union “if the unity is to occupy seats”, but he will make all the necessary efforts if it is to move forward with what they started in 2017 and for the benefit of Catalonia.
Puigdemont predicts that there will be a lot of abstention, predicts that the next Catalan president will have to govern in a coalition, and believes that Junts is recovering a lot of votes from the PDeCAT and other parties.
Asked about the support for his candidacy expressed by former president Jordi Pujol, he said that he was moved to have the support of someone who is a “political reference” for him and a person with a long career in the service of Catalonia.
“That he expressed his support to me was a very nice, precious gift, and I want to thank him for what he represents,” Puigdemont stressed.
Furthermore, he has said that he rules out running for an organic position in Junts, such as that of the party’s presidency, currently in the hands of Laura Borràs.
He sees it as premature to talk about the structure of the Government that he would lead or about whether Anna Navarro and Josep Rull would be councilors, but he has guaranteed that he will incorporate independents, also in technical profiles of the administration, to prioritize those who are “good professionals.”
The candidate, who was one of the victims of spying with Pegasus on his mobile phone, has asked to take “drastic measures” to prohibit these programs, and has specified that he takes precautions, which are never enough, he said, but that this is not It conditions your life.
“I know that I am exposed to anything, with my family included, and my wife too, because they spied on her with Pegasus, but if their objective is to scare us, they will not succeed,” he assured.
