Salvador Illa says that his “friend” Pedro Sánchez knew about the decision at the same time as everyone else, but that he had the opportunity to talk to him over the weekend. There was an impression in the PSC that the president would throw in the towel, but now they are faced with the challenge of managing the possible “boomerang effect” at the polls as a result of a loss of credibility among the electorate in the president.
“Well yes, he has done a Xavi,” PSC sources concluded after the announcement, but “now is when the campaign begins,” they remarked, for which Salvador Illa assured yesterday that he hopes to have the president's participation. The candidate confirmed in a press conference after Sánchez's announcement that "it is the best news for Catalonia."
Illa hopes that the leader of the PSOE will join the PSC campaign events after having held two rallies without him and there is still time to attend those initially planned: this Thursday in Sant Boi de Llobregat, on Saturday in Montmeló and on Friday day 10 in the Vall d'Hebron for the closing of the campaign.
The PSC candidate smiled yesterday while answering the messages on his mobile phone, full of reactions to Sánchez's announcement, but in the party they are aware that the president's decision will have effects on the campaign and perhaps on the results of May 12 . “Now, let's cross our fingers to avoid a boomerang effect,” says a source from the party leadership who, with all the precautions, points out the volatility that characterizes national politics: “This country goes from hot to cold in an instant.” .
Of the two options that the president had on the table, staying was the one that many in the PSC least predicted, perhaps also the one that least fueled the socialist electoral mobilization. But an abrupt departure, with the consequent dispute over the succession in the PSOE and the end of a legislature marked by Catalan issues – amnesty, regional financing and transfers – would not have gone well for the PSC candidate either. Illa did not want to speculate about it, claiming that the only thing that mattered to her was his friend Sánchez.
The PSC candidate held a rally yesterday in Mataró in which he highlighted that the president's decision "is a guarantee that the policy deployed around Catalonia will continue." Illa recalled the "brave, sometimes uncomfortable, decisions" made by the Sánchez Government with respect to Catalonia, which in his opinion have been shown to "be bearing fruit", to conclude that the President of the Government "is going to be the best ally from Catalonia
The PSC will continue its electoral campaign without changes compared to now, aware that there will still be talk for a few days about Sánchez's decision announced this Monday, but Illa's campaign strategy will not change. The party plans to present today the SI platform to support its candidacy, which will include the involvement of prominent names in Catalan civil society.
