Ximo Puig takes a step back so that another person leads the party he has led for eleven years, eight of these as Valencian president. In this interview, he talks about the role that the PSOE must play in Spain and what the path must be for the second socialist federation to regain power.
When did you decide to leave the management of the PSPV?
It has been a process of reflection that has lasted a few months, but from the night of the 28th I knew that I had to travel an itinerary that had to end with the renewal of the PSPV.
Have you received pressure?
There was no pressure from anything or anyone. He could lead the opposition to the PP and Vox this legislature, but he is not the best for the PSPV.
Will he continue as a senator or will he go to Paris as an OECD ambassador?
I think everything has its time. In the coming months I will continue to act as general secretary of the PSPV until the congress and as a senator. Any decision about my future is pending congress.
You talked about mistakes made by the PSPV on 28-M.
We should have made more progress in the Valencianization of the political space, but the general framework was conditioned by issues that in no way corresponded to the autonomous area. I believed that the strength of the management was decisive when evaluating a government and obtaining an electoral result, and this has not been the case. I admit my error of analysis.
It took six months to self-criticize.
It was necessary to face 23-J and the formation of a new government in Spain. Nor is it a question of doing harakiri, because the PSPV has improved its results, something that has not happened in other autonomies. We have, of course, lacked governance.
You talk about avoiding, in this renewal, internal wars of the PSPV as in the past.
It's that we have to learn from the mistakes of the past. We have a great advantage and that is that we are cohesive. What cannot be done is to generate exclusions that end up being sterile. We can generate a strong and powerful team for 2027, beyond personal ambitions.
With you, the PSPV is more PSPV than PSOE, more Valencian, federal and vindictive than in the past. Is this legacy at risk?
I do not think so. I will try to help, but understand that my role has reached this point, I take a step back. And I'm already telling them that I won't supervise this trip.
Is Minister Diana Morant the right person to sustain this legacy?
I have the best opinion of the minister, but any appreciation can have harmful connotations.
You have said that you will not oversee the PSPV renewal process. Will the PSOE leadership protect her?
He won't either. No one will supervise the change, it will be decided by the militants with one question: how can we best reach 2027 to be the majority party in the Valencian Community?
During these years it has seemed that the leadership of the PSOE has not been on the side of the PSPV on key issues such as funding.
In 2014, with Mariano Rajoy's absolute majority, the mechanism to change the funding model, which had expired since that year, was not activated. The PP talks about the urgency of changing the model, but they don't have a model. Which is? The one from Andalusia, Madrid or Galicia? If they are not able to negotiate the renewal of the CGPJ, how will they reach agreements such as financing? The new model must be associated with a new policy to avoid fiscal dumping in Spain.
But more than once he regretted the Spanish Government's lack of decision on the Valencian claims.
We all always wish we had more supports, but I'm not complaining. Since Sánchez's victory until now we have not achieved the change in funding, but we have more resources than ever.
The PSOE now seems to be assuming this plurality that you have always defended, but forcing reality and agreements for the benefit of Sánchez.
The PSOE has the great virtue of understanding that centralism is not intelligent, it is not the solution for Spain. And this is not an identity debate, we are talking about the redistribution of power, the fair redistribution of resources and wealth.
In view of what is happening in many countries in Europe, social democracy here seems to enjoy relatively good health.
After the failure of neoliberalism, social democracy has emerged strengthened, as seen with the decisions of the EU after the pandemic, nothing to do with the financial crisis of 2008. However, the fact that social democratic policies have offered a better answer does not correspond to the health of the social democratic party. In any case, democratic socialism is better in Spain than in other countries, it is more competitive and has been able to curb the ultra-right. And Pedro Sánchez is surely the most prestigious social democratic leader in Europe.
