The PSC's first secretary, Salvador Illa, believes that attempts to invest the leader of the Junts, Carles Puigdemont, are “a waste of time and going around in circles.” This was stated in an interview on La 2, in which he promised “generosity, clarity and coherence” to conclude a “progressive” agreement with ERC and the commons to be sworn in as president.
Illa has assured that she trusts that to be the case The Junt's deputy, Josep Rull, is the new speaker of parliament It won't get in the way of his hypothetical inauguration as president. “I have confidence that he will do his job, what he has to do,” he said.
The PSC leader has asked the rest of the parties not to 'block' his investiture, recalling that he did not do so during the last term. “I don't ask anything that I wouldn't do,” the socialist said. “That they let me rule alone or that they agree to an agreement,” he explained.
For the socialist, an agreement is needed that gives priority to housing, health, education and security policies in Catalonia and he has given as an example the pact between the PNV and the PSE in the Basque Country, which he says is an example of 'political craftsmanship'. .”
When asked about one of the ERC's conditions for the pact, namely setting in motion the path to a referendum, Illa emphasized that there is “no majority” in the legislative chamber in favor of this issue. “I'm not for that,” he insisted.
On the other hand, he has assured that the talks before the inauguration do not include a hypothetical agreement for the Barcelona City Council. As he has said, he is not part of the negotiations and is against 'mixing notebooks'. “I respect the decisions of my Barcelona teammates and Jaume Collboni knows he has our full support to take Barcelona forward as he sees fit,” he said.
The inauguration of Puigdemont
Illa has insisted that he will not abstain from swearing in Puigdemont as president of the Generalitat, despite the pressure Junts has put on the PSC with the threat of blowing up the legislature in Congress. “I will not abstain,” Illa emphasized, repeating the same sentence in Spanish, English and French. “I tell you in all languages: we will not do it because the Catalans did not vote for this,” he insisted.
According to Illa, Junts is aiming for repeat elections, an option that the PSC rejects. Illa recalled that there was already a majority in favor of independence in the last term and recalled that, in his opinion, it was “not operational.”