PSOE and Compromise: signal and noise

Consell has rarely managed to send a strong and far-reaching political signal this week by Ximo Puig at the general policy debate, with the announcement of his fiscal plan to alleviate the plight of the majority of the population. A downward adjustment of the regional division of personal income tax for those earning less than €60,000 per year, raising the minimum declaration exemption and a series of other measures targeting youth and women.

Puig suddenly displaced not only the PP, but also the PSOE and the Spanish Government itself. With an openly social-democratic alternative that clearly goes beyond the concept of the “working middle class” that the president himself has at one point described as “Keynesian” and that Pedro Sánchez is determined to impose in political discourse, Puig once again sets the agenda and takes the initiative. It forces the PP to rework its main argument to regain its power, especially with tax cuts, which is important in a community that is suffering from the worst funding by the State and yet is in the leading group in the regional pressure tax rankings. But he also emerges as a leader with his own personality and autonomy according to the leadership of his party and Moncloa. And by weight. Other times he seemed to be under discussion, although he presided over the largest community led by a socialist.

As a result, in the Valencian Community, PP ended the week with Carlos Mazón declaring that he was even willing to abandon his bid to agree on that of the Generalitat. In the game of forces and counter-forces within the PSOE, the usual roosters of the socialist barony, embodied better than anyone else by García Page of Castile-Manchego, had to change the pace, which prompted them to directly copy the model of Egypt. Sales PP for everyone, also for the richest, to place the speech leaving Valencia. And the Sánchez Executive, who did not hide his deep discomfort with Puig’s path in the first moments, had no choice but to accelerate his own plan and announce 48 hours later, a tax cut that he had opposed until a few days ago. although more limited and accompanied by a temporary increase in the taxation of large wealth. In short, an intervention in the Valencian Parliament has never had such an impact on the general political assembly, both regional and national.

But it’s not just that. While Consell’s bid cost a modest 150 million, it also helped Puig reposition himself in the midst of another crisis, where he works best, the political leader who waits for the people waiting. It happened with Vega Baja’s DANA at the start of this post, and it’s happened again this summer despite the many controversies that arose in parallel with the fires. And especially during the pandemic. Puig is the president who is always there. This is the space that knows how to occupy like no one else. And it wouldn’t be fair to deny the time and effort he’s devoted to trying, Mazón has so far failed to displace him. Feijóo is lucky to meet a distant president. And the misfortune of meeting the closest leader of the inhabitants of Mazón, Palau.

Presidency and Ministry of Finance teams led by Arcadi Spain have been working on the set of measures announced on Tuesday since at least the beginning of August. The plan was not always clear: there was a difference of opinion between those who initially advocated limiting themselves to the announcement of bonuses and those who adhered to an approach of greater political importance, such as that presented at the end. The spokesperson was aligned with the board of trustees, the parliamentary group, and the candidate for the Alicante Mayor Ana Barceló candidacy. And because of pressure from Botànic’s partners on the one hand and the rejection of the central government on the other (until last-minute changes had to be made), it was not easy to get him off the ground.

It is not true that Puig did not inform the Sánchez Executive or PSOE leadership of his intentions. Arcadi Spain reported the proposal to both Finance Minister María Jesús Montoro and Federal Organization Secretary Óscar López, with whom it shares the National Socialist leadership and is the former Deputy Secretary General. Montoro was completely opposed, and Puig was threatened with the seven plagues of Egypt if he continued. López simply said they were joining Montoro. In political language, if the person in charge of the Organization is not trying to impose himself, he leaves the door open for you to take action, but like spies in enemy territory, no one will claim to know you if it goes wrong. It went right.

The agreement with Compromis and Podemos, which were opposed to supporting a plan that did not consider raising taxes on the highest incomes, was not easy either. Finally, the ball was cleared to be discussed again at the next budget talks at the latest. In the middle, there are new package of measures for SMEs, in line with the demands of the family companies, which the socialists want to approve. The PSOE has leverage before its partners, particularly in Alicante, to claim the wear and tear it has suffered for a tribute they have defended and which the Socialists have always branded as inappropriate, such as the tourist tax. In clear contradiction to the spirit of what has been done, a new tax emerges as a bargaining chip to drive Consell’s entire fiscal program backed by the PSOE.

That was the signal. Not your week. From the legislature. The very broad message Generalitat has sent since the launch of the second Botànic, for its political reading as well as for its private details. But compared to the signal, it’s the noise that distorts the broadcast, according to the scientific definition originally produced. Of course, a coalition starring Compromis, a coalition that has been a problem for every solution since the beginning of the legislature. Botànic’s first pact included a Compromise that promoted renewal and change. And in this second period, a Compromise that has become increasingly withdrawn, not stopping to attack the Government of which it is a part, but also causing its own coalition to bleed to death and its most charismatic leader to leave Consell after he came to power. was accused.

The culmination of all this divergence came on Thursday, when Valencia Congressman Joan Baldoví publicly confirmed his desire to be Comprom’s candidate to head the Generalitat in the next regional elections. A blow to the hand of Mès, now the Bloc of which Baldoví is a member and integrated into the coalition that was formerly Unitat del Poble Valencià, heir to the Nationalist Party of Valencià Country: Valencian nationalists spend more on changing labels than holding assemblies, which perhaps explains their different electoral chances.

Why are you talking about the coup? Because the primaries approved by Mès were scheduled for February, and in their letters they were not considering the election of the Generalitat candidate, but the creation of electoral lists in each constituency. And, as everyone knows, it is one thing to know that after Mónica Oltra was dismissed, Baldoví pretended to be the candidate of the coalition of councilor Mireia, which, together with the Mès nationalists, formed Oltra’s own party. Mullah and Consell’s current vice-president, Aitana Mas, Venture and Els Verds with a real left-handed pointer) and anything else, spawning all the artillery to shoot, take advantage of that. Being distracted in Valencia.

The desires of Mès and Baldoví are, of course, legitimate: everyone is free to scratch as they please, especially if they will later submit to the judgment of the citizens. Mès is also the largest party in the coalition. But the formats were at least inconsistent. As for announcing that the Nationalists want one of their own to preside over the Generalitat, they do so in Madrid, not in the Valencian Community. Those who claim to advocate self-government do not convey it to their highest representatives at the Consel or wait for the most important debate held by the Corts each year to conclude, but rather ignore it and step in. And then they come to exhibit in Alicante, where Baldoví’s public acts are exhibited, although at the beginning of Baldoví’s teaching career he was teaching in Vinalopó and Vega Baja. . Meanwhile, Baldoví voted in favor of the latest State Budgets, leaving Alicante as Spain’s last province for investments. You will say: the man and PSOE’s too. And that’s true. But those in the PSOE (like those of the PP, who when it’s their turn to rule and do the same) are part of a government organization and don’t hide it. But a Valencian national has no right to vote.

In a recent action, former minister Manuel Alcaraz pointed out that his devotion to Aitana Mas is the result of a political calculation, beyond political or personal affinities: young, female, prepared and with a proven ability to take responsibility. Putting it that way, that would be a campaign manager’s dream. However, the subject in these pages is different. It’s about Baldoví (and the former Blok, Mès, UPV’s successor, PNPV’s heir, etc.) kindly explaining to the citizens he will ask for the vote why he does not want him to take responsibility in July. He has decided that Consell will replace Monica Oltra in the vice presidency and now plans to represent them. That being said: Consistency and Mès are not realities seen in the same photo.

Valencian nationalism saw a great opportunity to launch the coup: With Oltra’s departure, the initiative was disrupted. But he was also in a hurry to prevent Aitana Mas from consolidating himself as vice president, thus making it an option to lead the coalition’s candidacy. And it was urgent for him to steal the headlines from Puig, who ruled them all. I have no doubt that with their actions Mès and Baldoví achieved some of these goals. But in exchange for the left’s aspirations to stay in government beyond these elections once again clamoring for the signal at a key moment. And perhaps precisely to destroy the already scarce trust among Compromís members. Everything for the homeland.