PSC to claim throughout 14-F campaign that Illa will guarantee Catalonia "returns" to the pre-independence bid era

BarcelonaVuelve Illa y Vuelve Catalunya (translated as "Illa returns and Catalonia returns"). These will be the four words the PSC will adopt to face the electoral campaign of 14-F. The first two appear in the first election video presented this Thursday by the Socialists, and the second two will be the campaign slogan. What they seek to convey is that the PSC and especially its candidate are a guarantee for the return to a Catalonia that existed at least 10 years ago. "The Catalonia that this campaign is talking about is the one we have lost due to the independence bid", the number two candidate, Eva Granados, explained.

Thus, 24 hours after the surprise announcement that Illa would take over from Iceta as the head of the candidacy, the PSC has presented the axes three campaign axes. The first will address how to end what they believe may already be the last phase of the pandemic. The second, the proposals to exit the crisis. The third and last one is the bet to look for "the reunion between Catalan men and women". Granados is convinced that the decision to place Illa at the top of the list has generated "hope that goes beyond the PSC". The PSC's motto for the next month and a half is to convey that they are convinced they can win the elections, but they will not speculate on the number of seats they will get or what other party may have done more harm in electoral terms.

Granados has also promised a campaign "in positive, without responding to any provocations". "Catalonia is returning to leave behind permanent confrontation, insults and disrespect", he insisted. In the election video, which sees Illa as the absolute protagonist, the same idea of a return is played out. "I am coming back home, to our home", the minister says, who regrets that during the last decade the Generalitat has neglected "the real problems of real people".

Iceta's future

With the surprise that Illa will finally be the candidate and will therefore have to stop being Minister of Health, it remains to be seen what the future of Miquel Iceta will be. Granados had no doubts today: "Of course we would like to have a Catalan minister". Therefore, it seems that the future of the -still- leader of the PSC will be a ministerial one, but no one wants to take this for granted yet. Iceta himself has explained that the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has offered him to "collaborate" in state policy, but has not gone any further. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Sánchez told him: "I also need people here who are not tied to autonomous tasks, but who can devote themselves to state policy; I think that you could be one of them. Think very carefully, not only about today's decision but also about the years to come".

Up to now, Iceta has basically had two tasks that Sánchez considers autonomous: to lead the party organically in Catalonia, and to lead it in Parliament. He will not take care of the second task anymore. Nor has Sánchez been completely transparent. This Thursday through Twitter he expressed his "immense gratitude" towards Illa, however, it remains uncertain what his cabinet will look like when Illa packs his bags for good and returns to Catalonia.