Under-growth PSPV improved results four years ago by 28% compared to 24% in 2019, but this is a barren and even bitter increase. Not only will the Socialists lose their status as the party with the most votes, but more importantly, after a long journey through the desert of opposition, they will stop running the Generalitat, from which they came eight years ago, and return. The atmosphere in the headquarters of those with fists and roses was also in line with the electoral defeat. Sadness, tears, embraces of comfort, and even a certain disbelief after a campaign where they touched a third Botànic with their fingertips.
Outgoing president Ximo Puig openly admitted defeat, but also justified the legacy left by their government and the honesty with which they worked through these two legislatures. Thus, “heads held high, hands clean” enabled them to leave.
In terms of elections, the Socialists are returning to a scenario similar to that of 2011, and even improving by two percentage points compared to the elections before the new policy came into effect. The 31 deputies that will make up the group with the fist rose in the Cortes over the next four years are almost equal to their best results when they got 33 MPs 12 years ago, but have the same negative connotation. on that appointment with the ballot box: it will only serve to be the main opposition party.
PSPV grows by about four points in the three constituencies, and the same thing happens in all of them: They are below the PP, who took advantage of the absence of the Unides Podem in the Cortes to extend the parliamentary advantage. The first force Socialists touch the 30% barrier in the provinces of Castellón and Alicante (29%) and stand close to 27.6% in Valencia.
Ximo Puig showed up at 11:30 p.m. and admitted defeat without a palliative. The former chairman of the Generalitat began his speech by thanking his people for their support thus far and by highlighting the progress of his formation, the PSPV, in the elections compared to the last two appointments in the polls, 2015 and 2019. but stated that it was “inadequate”. Therefore, he conceded defeat and congratulated the PP for “winning the election”.
The poll results did not prevent the Consell chairman from assessing what had been done in eight years of government. In this sense, he reminded the Generalitat government that when they came to the Valencia Community, it was in a state of crisis and linked to corruption, and now it has broken employment records and improved in all indicators. “This is our legacy,” he said, adding that they parted for it “with their heads held high and their hands clean.”
The socialist candidate did not find his campaign strategy wrong with regard to his defeat, but stated that he tried to explain “what was done” and protested the “major contamination” of state policy. “It’s not about making a change for the whole,” he said. The leader, who is still the leader of the fist fighters, said his party is trying to “bet on a model of social majority” that will now be “an alternative”.
no trench
Regarding the future, Palau’s current tenant wanted Valencian society “not to fall into divisions and trenches” and called for it to “continue to work for Valencians”. Likewise, this Monday, the administrator left the door open for the departure of the Socialists he called. “There will be other people, other teams, but there will definitely be other progressive governments in the Generalitat in the future,” he said, although he stated that this is not a topic for discussion at the moment. “Every day has a whim,” he said.
“It has been a great honor for Ximo Puig to be president of the men and women of Valencia.” And he added: “Now the time to speak begins again and we will keep our heads up, our hands very clean, our souls protected. He continues to work for the Valencian men and women,” he assured and He concluded by quoting Antonio Machado: “Everything happens and everything remains, and the fruit of your work, the fruit of your work, will remain forever”.
Puig had clearly chosen a presidential campaign whose work was still unfinished. His good rating in the polls allowed those with the punch and the rose to rise, but he did so at the expense of his left-wing partners, not the votes left after Ciudadanos’ disbandment. Salutations to more centrist voters fell short, and those who supported Ciudadanos four years ago seem to have mostly opted for PP and Vox.