The second debate did not serve to detect the spirit of the electoral recurrence in Cataloniabut rather the opposite: the risk of a blockade after May 12 is no longer a specter and is taking shape by the lack of clarity of the poll favorite, the socialist Salvador Illa, about his alliance policy and by the mutual reproaches between the left and the independents.
The La Sexta debate, the penultimate before Tuesday's debate on TV3, took place after the latest campaign polls were published. Both the polls of the demographic companies like that of Sociological Research Center (CIS) They have foreseen a clear victory for Illa, albeit without an absolute majority, so post-electoral pacts will be necessary.
The candidates debated for more than two hours without reaching consensus to prevent a repeat of the election. The PSC candidate has reiterated his intention to run, but has not specified what support he wants to receive. Illa has avoided ruling out the pact with Junts. He has also not given priority to an alliance with the ERC and the comuns, and has limited himself to promoting that he will negotiate after 12 million and asking the rest of the parties not to block “a new phase”.
Illa's lack of clarity has led to other candidates competing against the Socialist candidate and taking for granted what agreements the PSC would reach.
The Comuns Sumar candidate, Jéssica Albiach, has urged Illa to “clarify” whether she wants to form a government with Junts in a pact she has defined as “the asphalt coalition” due to the support of socialists and neoconvergents for the expansion from the government. Airport and the Hard Rock macro casino. “The only safe vote for a progressive government is that of the commons,” he added. “The PSC has not yet voted on a budget for the Junts, as you did with Quim Torra,” the Socialist candidate responded to Albiach.
For his part, Alejandro Fernández (PP) has challenged Illa to “have the courage to confront Pedro Sánchez” if, in order to reach the presidency of the Generalitat, the independents withdraw support from the government in Madrid. Carlos Carrizosa (Ciudadanos) has followed the same line, predicting that the president of the government “will not let Illa be president because they would withdraw the support of the ERC and Junts.”
The ERC candidate, Pere Aragonès, has warned Illa that the president is elected by a majority of parliament. “Don't look like Mr. Feijóo,” he said, referring to the PP leader's defeat in July.
“We have two options: an ambitious government of Puigdemont or a government of socialist subordination to Illa,” has said the number three of the Junts, Josep Rull, who has accused Aragonès of “unilaterally breaking” the government agreement of the last legislature, to which the Republican replied: “Unity is practiced, not preached.”
In a debate that has seen almost no mention of independence or Sánchez's decision to focus on pacts and management, Aragonès and Illa have clashed over the new financing. The current president has urged the Socialist candidate “not to block” the new, unique financing model proposed by the Republicans, while Illa has reiterated his proposal for a tax consortium between the State and the Generalitat, adding: “With the financing, I will do in four years everything they haven't done in ten years because they were talking.
For her part, the number two of the CUP, Laure Vega, has placed the agreements with the ERC and the CUP as a priority of her formation, urging the Junts and the PSC to “leave employer policy behind” and to sign the CUP proposal. rent regulation of the Tenants' Association.
The municipalities and the ERC have also clashed in the field of housing. While Aragonès has praised the government's proposed policy to protect tenants, Albiach has criticized the fact that ERC is “only committed to housing during the election campaign.”