The miseries of a politician’s life. One day, you wake up as a regional president with a history of service that citizens value according to all surveys, and you have to start thinking about what to do with your life at night. This happened to Ximo Puig on May 28, and by now he was in the process of absorbing a new reality.
To understand this stage, you need to position yourself. Defeat was not in their plans. There was no plan B. Even after polling stations closed and Narciso Michavila’s poll was revealed, this was not planned in his office. Internal investigations said otherwise, and Ferraz confirmed it. Its people were confident in the value of the administration being carried out. Ultimately, PSPV’s increase in votes did not compensate for the collapse of Podemos and the decline of Compromís. There was something like historical justice: they made him president in 2015, with a weak result from PSPV and a narrow margin with Mónica Oltra (Compromís), and their downfall was now his.
The call for a general election in July helped Puig decide to stay. His plan was to lead the party until 2025 and then decide. The same arguments from then are ones that must now be sidelined: the belief that the right’s cycle in power could be short with a PP allied with the far right, and not another twenty-year journey into the desert.
What happened?
What happened? His intention was to lead the “alternative” rather than the opposition, and this separation turned out to be a simple political theory. The combination of standing in the Valencian Community (Cortes) and Spain (Senate) wore him out more than anything else due to the accumulation of positions with the election of independent and former councilor Gabriela Bravo (associate). former president) for socialist representation in the Executive Board of the Cortes. It seemed that some things were not done well in the Valencian State Council. He began to monitor troop movements and traces of organic guerrilla warfare. Time has passed: Puig will turn 65 in January, so retirement from the political front will come to him, as it does to most workers. Ferraz and Moncloa also passed away, leaving him out of the Government and sending messages that they preferred renewal. Whether Puig or the federal leadership will step this up (almost no federation is in the pre-convention process) depends on the source.
Whatever happened in the end, Puig gave up earlier than expected. However, almost twelve years after assuming the general secretaryship, he expanded the party and left a good image in the Valencian Community and Spain. Maybe it’s a factor before it gets worse. It’s also a way to preserve heritage.
Who is Puig?
Because who is Puig, who is he? He is a veteran of a political career who, as Joan Lerma’s private secretary, understands what it is like to be president, who has been in charge of his own municipality (Morella) for twelve years, who has had a difficult time in the provincial opposition of Castellón. the then all-powerful Carlos Fabra also knew the corridors of Madrid during his time in the Congress of Representatives.
Who is Puig? A mayor. This is the feature that most marked his time in the Generalitat: coming 24 hours a day with the assumption of being mayor and trying to be involved in everything. That’s why he’s been in Palau every day during the pandemic. That’s why they show up during a major emergency like DANA in Vega Baja. All this, together with the tendency of current politics towards hyper-leadership, has led to the growth of a figure (Mónica Oltra) who the partners question on the grounds that she hides and blurs her shadow.
Who is Puig? He is a demanding leader with his teams, one of those who is in the office on Sundays, and also one of those who experiences temporary anger when things do not go his way.
Who is Puig? A deal maker. Knowing from experience the instincts and fratricidal tendencies of the PSPV families, many of those opposed to them found corporate positions and accommodation during their tenure: Jorge Alarte, Toni Gaspar, Rafa García, Mercedes Caballero…
Who is Puig? A better manager than a candidate. Those who accompanied him knew this when he became general secretary of the PSPV in 2012 and faced the 2015 elections, the most difficult of all, because it was not just about confronting the right, but also containing the wave of angry new left. She came with compromís and Podemos. He leaves the party better (electorally) than he did then.
Who is Puig? He is a socialist with a nationalist conscience (PSPV-PSOE), in the sense that he is in a party with two souls that zigzag from its name. A Spanish federalist who was convinced of self-government and wished he had said something more in this area. Ferraz’s farewell appearance under the gaze of his powerful delegate casts a shadow over a confusing and unfair end to his career.
Who is Puig? A journalist trained between Barcelona and Madrid, the two important poles of his political biography. Although he did little in practice, he never ceased to be so. Your best press officer. Being the editor of a newspaper would satisfy him almost as much as heading the Generalitat.
Who is Puig? A reader and an intellectual apprentice. Someone was worried about books he wouldn’t be able to read, and as president he had set aside several hours for reading on his Wednesday afternoon agenda.
Who is Puig? He is a socialist, marked by the decision of the federal committee of October 1, 2016, in which he was one of the 17 members of the PSOE executive who signed in support of the conclave at which Pedro Sánchez was forced to resign. Everything happens and everything happens. This determined and active stance of him and his team in favor of Susana Díaz left its mark by being increasingly suppressed over the years. Few people know, but not long ago, for a few hours, in those swampy times when Díaz did not dare to step up to face Eduardo Madina for the big office of Ferraz and a candidate was being sought, Puig could have been the leader of the PSOE. . . They would eventually find it in a young and ambitious Sánchez, before they saw the idol that was beginning to take shape, with no feet of clay. But this is already an old story, as in neorealist films. Today, Puig begins his retirement.