Aragons says that Illa’s PSC “is far” from Maragall’s Catalanism, which undermines a tripartite like the one in 2003
The president of the Generalitat and ERC candidate in the Catalan elections, Pere Aragonès, has affirmed that the PSC currently led by Salvador Illa “it is very far” from that of the socialist ‘former president’ Pasqual Maragall, who was “more Catalan” and defended the language and self-government for Catalonia more strongly, which cools the possibility of reissuing the tripartite agreement of 2003.
“I think that today the Socialist Party of Catalonia is very far from that Socialist Party, for example, from President Maragall, who It was a Catalan party that defended the language and self-government of Catalonia”, Aragonès stated in an interview on Cadena Ser, reported by Europa Press, where he criticized the position against the PSC on issues such as rent regulation.
Asked if after the elections on May 12 there could be a repeat of the tripartite Government that brought together PSC, IU and ERC in a coalition in 2003 with a president of the socialist Generalitat, Aragonès responded that Illa’s PSC is the “least Catalan in its history” and the one that “is further to the right of its history”, which would make that scenario difficult.
The ERC leader has continued to argue that although “they can call themselves whatever name they want”, calling a socialist party a party that refuses to limit rental premiums or regulate seasonal rentals is not “the left-wing party model” that “really progressive people want.” Thus, he has maintained that “both the PSC and Junts” have been far from “of ambition” of his party.
All in all, Aragonès has once again said that he hopes that ERC emerges stronger from the elections to articulate “a large majority based on proposals, not on party labels” that will allow the political negotiation with the State to continue to obtain a self-determination referendum and a Catalan quota, as well as to strengthen the welfare state and the Catalan language.
THE CATALANS DO NOT DESERVE THE INSTABILITY OF JUNTS
The Catalan president has admitted the possibility that the pacts with the Government of Spain could have caused a fracture to his party, which is in third position according to the majority of the parties, although he has defended that “the one who paves the way” is the one who is “with more difficulties.”
“The easy thing is to go behind the pack, but whoever is ahead of the race is the one who encounters difficulties,” he said in a veiled allusion to Junts, which at first refused to agree anything with the Spanish Executive and now also reach agreements such as ERC.
“Difficulties are welcome if they serve to improve the lives of citizens,” added Aragonès, indicating that a “very important part of the population in Catalonia” values ”positively“the “advances produced in the last three years” with the Government of Spain.
Faced with ERC’s “decision”, the ‘president’ has highlighted the “instability” of Carles Puigdemont’s party, which “yesterday talked about confrontation, today talks about negotiation and tomorrow we don’t know what it will do.” “The citizens of Catalonia deserve predictability, and we appear in these elections with the accreditation of the work we have done”he pointed out.
On the other hand, the Catalan president has claimed that his party is the one that has“more border with other electorates” because it addresses “a majority of the citizens of Catalonia”, which places it in a key place to “reach agreements” with other parties, such as the PSC or Junts.
“CATALAN ALLIANCE IS NOT INDEPENDENTIST”
Aragonès has totally rejected the possibility of ERC negotiating the formation of a Government where the Catalan Alliance is, claiming that “he is not pro-independence” and that “they are objectively working against the independence of Catalonia.”
“A diverse, plural country, in its composition, from the origins of citizenship, but also the ways of living and thinking, such as Catalonia, you can only consider your futureand I want it to be a future, as an independent State without a minimum of social cohesion”, explained the ‘president’.
He has also stressed that if the party of the mayor of Ripoll, Silvia Orriols, considers that “there is a part of fellow citizens who should be expelled”, it cannot be planted “no collective project”which would lead to “the defeat of Catalonia.”
Likewise, he recalled that ERC will not agree “nothing with the extreme right, whatever flag it has”because “the extreme right is extreme right in Catalonia, in Soria, in France or in Rome.”
