The day after winning the general elections with resoundingly clear results in Catalonia, the PSC chooses to avoid triumphalism and pave the way for a dialogue with pro-independence political forces that will allow the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. They do this by making clear the red lines that they are not ready to accept but are aware that the weight of the seven Junts deputies to have the necessary majority in the Congress of Deputies will condition the negotiations, either to obtain their vote in favor or an abstention.
"The results are clear, the numbers support it, I appeal to all of us to live up to the circumstances", assured yesterday the first secretary of the PSC, Salvador Illa, in a clear message to the party of Carles Puigdemont, to whom the socialists asked for "realism" and already make it very clear that neither the amnesty nor the self-determination referendum will be on the table when they prepare to negotiate. These are the two conditions that the pro-independence party had set and that do not fit with a fundamental premise for Illa: "The cornerstone of democracy is respect for the rule of law".
According to the first secretary of the PSC, the European context of the growth of the extreme right makes the current historical moment a turning point and, faced with this international scenario, in Spain "it is time to bet on dialogue and collaboration, not on division". However, the leadership of the Catalan Socialists has not yet exchanged any messages with Junts representatives. They didn't do it during election night or yesterday either. The start of the talks is left in the hands of the parliamentary group as part of negotiations in which they will have to obtain the support of the various nationalist forces in the PSOE and Sumar coalition. Before that, it will be the ex-deputy of En Comú Podem, Jaume Asens, who will start talks with the pro-independence parties.
The celebration of yesterday's executive commission at the headquarters of the PSC in Carrer Pallars began with applause in recognition of the good results obtained both by the list headed by Meritxell Batet in Barcelona and in the other three Catalan provinces, where it has also been the most voted force. In total, 19 deputies and an absolute plenum with the 12 senators who were elected in Catalonia. Inside the gates, the Socialists celebrated having widely surpassed the million vote mark and reclaiming the title of the most voted party, something they had not seen since 2008 with Carme Chacón. Out doors, they opted for a more restrained stance. The head of the opposition in Catalonia understands that the polls make it clear that voters from all over the country have voted "for a plural and diverse Spain that must be articulated in a government formula that represents this plurality" led by Pedro Sánchez.
Illa also wanted to make it clear that in future negotiations to revalidate the PSOE in La Moncloa, pacts in other administrations will not come into play. Even less a possible exchange of support that would mean handing Junts the mayoralty of Barcelona won just a month ago by the Socialists thanks to the support of the commons and the PP.
"The notebooks must not be mixed", concluded Illa when faced with the option of negotiating some kind of agreement that would incorporate the post-convergents into the municipal government or even cede the mayorship to Xavier Trias. In Junts, some voices dreamed of putting on the table the demand to share the mayorship for two years for Trias and two for Collboni in exchange for facilitating the investiture of Sánchez, but the PSC do not want to hear or talk about this.
The mayor himself reinforced this position in an appearance at the City Council and made it clear that "Barcelona will never be a currency". Collboni remarked that "neither has been nor will it be in the future" and highlighted the good results in the Catalan capital of both his party and Sumar to "favor a progressive government". Precisely this same line of argument is what stood out at the local level both in the municipal campaign and in the subsequent negotiations, which ended up taking him to the mayor's office with only ten councilors waiting for the municipal government to gain muscle in the coming months.
