“The division is a huge risk due to the proximity of the elections, it was disappointing that Edmundo Bal left the framework of consensus and unity”, says the coordinator of the party in the Balearic Islands
Patricia Guasp, coordinator of Citizens in the Balearic Islands, aspires to lead the party at the state level and be the political spokesperson. He will face Edmundo Bal in a debate on the 9th. “There has not been any regional leader who has led a state project”stands out.How do you face this campaign?With great enthusiasm because we are a cohesive candidacy. I am supported by a great team and we have received a lot of support in all the autonomous communities. I have enthusiasm, commitment and a great responsibility.Their candidacy is called ‘Reborn your party’ and they come from a refoundation. Which of the two concepts best summarizes the project?It has been a nod to the first campaign of Albert Rivera in Catalonia that said ‘Your party is born’. We do the rebirth. There will be a renewal of faces, leadership and internal forms. We know that there have been many mistakes and now we want to re-illusion, not only the affiliates and positions, but all the Spaniards who have had this disaffection in recent years. We wanted a transversal project because it was what they asked of us.Have you done self-criticism? What has led Cs to be in such a complicated situation?There has been an external problem and other internal ones. The first has been the political context in which we find ourselves, much more polarized and with two extreme parties that have supported both the PSOE and the PP. Therefore, a party that is not in either of the two blocks leaves us without a game and without a margin. Internally, mistakes have been made. One of our great commitments is that we will not be subordinate to any party and we will not have preferential partners. We have coalitions with the PSOE in all the municipalities of Castilla-La Mancha where we govern, for example. Also in the council of Tenerife. But it is true that the feeling has been given to the outside world that our preferred partner was the PP. It has been a mistake.How far can Cs afford such a large division?We had asked the party leadership that we should make this re-foundation as united as possible. We risked everything in May and we have to think about the councilors who are risking the project. We had to think more about them than personal adventures. It was a great disappointment that Edmundo Bal left that framework of consensus and unity because he knew perfectly well what they were asking of us and the needs of our territories. We have not experienced it as an internal war, we have fought hard to make it an open and participatory party. It is very good that there are no single candidacies as we see in the big parties. Although it is a huge risk due to the proximity of the May elections, hence the disappointment with Bal. If we don’t win, we will put ourselves at the service of the new management.Behind her proposal is Inés Arrimadas. Isn’t that continuity?The 15 people who head the list would be in the permanent direction of the party, which makes the decisions. Both she and Begoña Villacís close the candidacy and would be vocal, but would not be in decision-making. Now he is the deputy secretary of the party and the spokesman, so the continuist candidacy would be his.Have they been too personal a party?Yes, for this reason the new statutes that have to be approved propose to separate the organic dynamics of the party and the political spokesperson. We want a much more choral project and give more voice and autonomy to the communities. We do not want more cesarisms. The fact that I am the candidate for political spokesperson is very symbolic because I am a regional spokesperson. I represent the autonomous communities.Could your political leap to Madrid benefit or harm your candidacy in the Balearic Islands?It is positive for the islands because it represents reinforcement and endorsement of all the work we have been doing. We are managing well where we govern. In addition, this places the Balearic Islands at the national level. There has not been any regional leader who has led a state project. This community has many specificities, and sometimes in state parties it is not seen from the perspective of Madrid. Therefore, that I am there will make there a greater sensitivity with the territories.She says that they do not have a preferred partner, but in the last year she has been very critical of Francina Armengol’s PSIB. Could I come to an agreement with her?I always think that there can be understanding, both with PSOE and PP. Our party must play that role of building bridges to the left and right, but always defending our own space. I do not like the ideological axes of left and right. I have reached out to the current Government when it was time, especially for the citizens of the islands, as in the Reactivation Pact. I have always defended that things must be done by consensus and with the social and economic agents. We have lived through a difficult year with the Education Law or the tourist decree because they did not like the forms or the content. They have abused the decree law, which has become the ordinary way of legislating. We have had the feeling of too much imposition, prohibition and regulation. We will be decisive in the governments of the Balearic Islands and in the city council of Palma.In an interview with this newspaper, he stated that he did not understand that Cs voters ended up in Vox, although the polls confirm this transfer.I am one of the people most critical of Vox in Parliament because they constantly show that they are useless for the population. They do not defend amendments, something that greatly annoys those of us who are making a constructive and purposeful opposition. I consider them ultra-right without a doubt and that’s how I express it when I play. We should ask Marga Prohens if they want to rule with them. It seems that in Castilla y León they have wanted to annihilate and put an end to Cs to agree with Vox. They are in a wrong position and very disappointing for the whole society. We have red lines: we do not want a government with nationalists or a government with Vox. I will not be in a government with them.What is the specific position of your party regarding Catalan in healthcare?Catalan must be a merit and not a requirement because we believe that it is a language barrier, aggravated by the deficit of health professionals. We will continue to defend this position, as we did in 2019.