Joan Baldoví (Swedish, 1958) faces a crucial challenge for his party as a candidate to preside over the Generalitat Valenciana: maintain or exceed the results obtained in 2015 and 2019 by Mónica Oltra. In this interview, Baldoví makes it clear that he avoids any confrontation with Pablo Iglesias or Héctor Illueca and regrets that the partisan combat between the left distracts the debate from issues that affect citizens. He makes it clear that if there is a third Botànic, the priority will be to put pressure on the Government to achieve a change in the financing model.
Today we have published an interview with Héctor Illueca in which he accuses Compromís and you of blocking the Podemos agreement with Sumar. A complaint that Pablo Iglesias has also made.
I have always considered Héctor Illueca a great person, and in this campaign you will not find a bad word against Héctor or anyone from Podemos. They are not my adversary because my adversary, and I am very clear about it, is the right, the PP and Vox, and my campaign will be elegant and of proposals, not criticizing any partner. I am going to confront what a Valencian right-wing government would be with what the Botànic is.
But do these accusations seem fair to you?
When you get older you can understand everything, and I insist; I have always had a great relationship with Héctor Illueca and I believe that two do not quarrel if one does not want to, and I do not want to. Even more so because they can be my companions in a third Botànic.
Don't you think that this type of tension between two key forces of the Botànic could generate a certain amount of confusion in the electorate of the space they represent?
I agree with you, it can happen. That is why I think it is important that we do what we have done today: confront our model with that of the right, and not with each other. That only benefits the right.
You have been favorable to the integration of Compromís in Sumar's national project.
I have shown myself favorable to listening to proposals. When that can materialize, we will talk about integration. I think that removing the focus now from what are the problems of the citizens is to make the debate that does not touch now. We must talk about what affects citizens.
We wonder then, and in line with what you say, if it would not have been better for Yolanda Díaz to present Sumar after 28M. Among other reasons to prevent a national debate for the generals from contaminating the immediate regional and local ones.
Free me from telling each one what to do. But it seems clear that part of that debate is drifting where it shouldn't. The debate is now regional and municipal elections. On the part of Compromís, that is where we will focus, it is time to talk about 28M.
But somehow this has caused an unwanted madrileñización of Valencian politics.
Indeed, and that is why whenever we speak to the media we insist that the focus is here, it should not be in Madrid. I also think that what the citizens expect is that we talk about their things, not about the battles between parties.
Don't you think, as Illueca says, that it would be positive to end this tension on the state left to reach an agreement between Sumar and Podemos before 28M?
Look, I am a candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat, Héctor Illueca too, we should talk about Valencian proposals and not about what is happening in Madrid. That's what I want to talk to Hector about.
Would you like Yolanda Díaz to campaign on 28M with you or Joan Ribó? Has she invited her?
Yesterday I spoke with Yolanda Díaz. I have always said what I love is that she has spoken highly of me, she has wished me great results in public. If she comes, I will be delighted to share the stage with her; she is a great minister.
Do you think that a third Botanic should redefine the relationship between Compromís and PSPV?
I think we should talk about everything, and after two Botànics we have to assess what has worked and what hasn't. Listening to some statements from the PSPV, I want to say that the coalition governments in the Valencian Community and in Madrid have been very positive. And another thing, without Compromís there will be no Botànic. We all better tone it down.
What hasn't worked? What has remained to be achieved in the botanical legislature that has now ended?
I think we will have to talk about miscegenation (formula for distribution of positions in each department of all the Botànic parties), because there have been departments in which it has worked very well, but not in others; and it was not our fault. I believe that the next Valencian government must be more powerful in its claims against the Spanish Government. With the resources we have we have done great things, but if we had more resources we would advance much more.
We understand that it refers to the demand for better financing or investment. Do you consider that not achieving it has been a failure of the Botànic?
Obviously, there is great dissatisfaction. We have made budgets based on debt, I have always denounced it. But it is evident that if there is a certain failure, the only one that cannot be attributed to it is the one who has put this issue on the table. If we do not have the financing, it is because of the PP and the PSOE. I have found few allies in Madrid.
Is there any management area that Compromís would like to manage in the next legislature?
Compromís has shown that it knows how to manage. In Social Welfare and Education we are a benchmark in Spain. But we have also successfully managed the Ministry of Economy, which in theory was an area that they said only the right knew how to manage. No businessman speaks ill of Minister Rafael Climent. That being said, let's be respectful and discuss this when we have a new government.
It is the first time in a decade that Compromís will not have Mónica Oltra as a candidate. Are you worried that the absence of such a powerful figure is not the candidate? Would you like her to campaign in her favor for 28M?
I would be delighted if Mónica Oltra participated in my company and also if she could have presented herself. He has been a fundamental pillar in Compromís and, without her, Compromís would not be what it is. But a party has to continue, there will come a day when Joan Ribó or Joan Baldoví will not be there, but the project must continue, the projects must be above the people.
If the sum of Compromís y Unides Podemos exceeds the PSPV, will he ask to be president of the Generalitat?
When it's time we'll water. First we have to focus on the present and on 28M, to arrive at a possible answer, we must have a third Botànic.
If you could lead or co-lead a third Botànic, what are the three issues that are a priority for you?
First, claim the financing yes or yes, and if necessary go to court. We cannot continue accumulating debt. Second, protect public health in the Statute and develop a fundamental primary care plan. Third, build public housing with a goal of having 5,000 affordable rental homes.
An appendix, various reports warn of the decline in the social use of Valencian. What does Compromís propose?
Sometimes Compromís wants to go further, but we find allies who tremble a lot to move forward. We claim a broader requirement for public service, we will make an analysis of the linguistic model in education and we will fight to give prestige to the language.
