The PP does not want to integrate into its lists cadres of Citizens disenchanted with the crisis and collapse of the orange formation. What the popular Valencians want is to keep a good part of those 470,676 voters who trusted Cs in 2019 and who were about to achieve the surprise; Toni Cantó was left 37,000 votes behind Isabel Bonig.
A bet that, in addition, can allow its leader, Carlos Mazón, to reinforce his liberal and center profile by marking a border with the PSPV of Ximo Puig, who gets along well with businessmen and who is also capable of lowering taxes. All this in a context, in which the PP is interested in convincing the moderate voter that it is capable of bringing together the entire center-right vote so as not to depend on Vox when it comes to forming the Government.
In this strategy and policy of "open arms" to turn the PP of the Valencian Community into "a space for sum" that Mazón recognized, the signing of Ruth Merino has been developed. The one who was, until just three weeks ago, spokesperson and visible head of Ciudadanos in Les Corts Valencianes will be part of the economic team of the PP. Although yesterday neither the affected person nor the regional president wanted to look further, everything indicates that Merino -State Treasury technician- will also occupy a prominent position in the regional list for Castellón that will be headed by Alberto Fabra. At the moment, she has not joined the PP, but she has already broken the Ciudadanos card.
A signing that was made public minutes before Merino's successor stepped on the carpet of the Palau de la Generalitat. Although it was a courtesy visit - it is common for the head of the Consell to meet with the spokespersons of the parliamentary groups - no one escapes that the new line of the orange formation goes through seeking an equidistance from the two big parties.
At this juncture, the signing of Merino acquires greater symbolism. And it may not be the only one. As Mazón admitted, in some municipalities people who come from Ciudadanos have joined the PP, but also from outside: "You don't look at their cards." In this line, the number two of the PP and candidate for Mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, did not rule out that in this idea of uniting and making the party a "welcoming and friendly place for Ciudadanos voters", people "with talent "can be incorporated into the municipal list. Of course, due to her way of working, it seems difficult for the profile of the Cs spokesperson in the Valencia City Council, Fernando Giner, to have a place in Catalá's candidacy.
All in all, the battle makes all the electoral sense. A look at the CIS post-electoral survey reveals that 23.9% of Ciudadanos voters in 2019 said they had voted for the PP in 2015. In other words, almost one in four were popular ex-voters. A profile that the popular now need to regain hegemony and position themselves as the first political force ahead of the PSPV.
To do this, they also need to strengthen their flank in the center since, as seen in that same survey, in 2019, the voter who was located in that ideological space was divided between the PSPV -which was the force with the most votes- and Ciudadanos.
Voters who placed themselves at 5th on the ideological scale -1 being the left and 10 the right- voted 21.8% for the PSPV and close to 20.9% for Ciudadanos. Now the PP wants part of that succulent cake.
For this reason, it is not surprising that, days after Merino announced, among criticisms of his already ex-party, that he was leaving the parliamentary spokesperson, he did not hesitate to pick up the phone and carry out those informal conversations about "you could come with us now" that so much from the PP as from some deputies of the PSPV they slipped Merino months ago, aware of the complicated future that awaited him in the orange formation.
