The former president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, observes the Seine River.
next to the Pont de l'Alma in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower, last Thursday.Samuel Aranda
Ximo Puig assures that he does not feel nostalgic for power.
“It is true that being able to make decisions allows us to change things, improve society, but it is also exhausting,” says the former Valencian president from Paris, a few days after assuming his new position as Spanish ambassador to the OECD (Organization for Cooperation and Development). Economic Development).
The 65-year-old politician from Castellón has made many executive decisions throughout his career as mayor (17 years) of his town, Morella, as general secretary (12 years) of the PSPV-PSOE or as president (eight years) of the Generalitat. Valencian, in addition to holding other positions.
Now, the extraordinary congress of the Valencian socialists, which he himself called, will ratify from March 22 to 24 in Benicàssim the new leadership in the party of the Minister of Science, Diana Morant, and the beginning of a new cycle.
“The phone rings a lot less, but it doesn't worry me too much.
And no, I am not nostalgic, but I am not indifferent either, because there are ties that cannot be broken,” Puig adds by phone from his new office at the multilateral organization, based in Paris.
He praises the work carried out by his predecessor, the economist Manuel Escudero, and explains his new stage: “I have always been in action politics and now I am in the most theoretical part, with a global vision, linked directly to the Government, on the major problems that ultimately affect us all.
But I maintain my conviction that you cannot esteem the world if you do not esteem your country and in that sense, I continue to defend self-government.”
The Generalitat government came after 20 in the opposition by the PSPV, which was in “a very complex situation.”
“We achieved the cohesion of the party and the connection with the Valencian Community: we went from less than 20% of electoral support in 2015 to more than 30% and we are hegemonic in the progressive space, we avoided the
surprise
of Galicia [where the Bloc has surpassed the socialists] and Madrid [Más Madrid].”
But in the 2023 elections, the left lost power, surpassed by the sum of the PP, which won the elections, and Vox, a defeat that was not expected in the Palau de la Generalitat.
“There was no contempt, but it is true that all the surveys spoke positively of the action of our Government and its acceptance.
An irresponsible and unbreathable environment was created at the national level that had consequences.
The political sociology of the Valencian Community has a national voting component, and that happens for better or worse.
“I would have liked more Valencian themes in the campaign.”
Puig opted for Diana Morant to replace him at the head of the PSPV-PSOE, the “first female general secretary”, but defends her full autonomy.
Avoid entering into internal issues, whether the PSOE leadership stopped voting in primaries between the three candidates as the minister really wanted, whose endorsements could have already given her victory in the first round, according to some party sources close to her.
She defends the strength of the candidacy.
“It is time to have a Valencian president, a prepared and experienced person, in the face of the most reactionary Government in history.”
And for this it is essential to open up to society and seek the vote not only in the socialist fishing grounds, Puig insists.
She believes Morant has the attributes to be an intersectional candidate.
In the history of the internal battles of the PSPV, former minister José Luis Ábalos and Puig have almost always been on different sides.
“I have deep sadness.
We have known each other for many years, we have agreed or not, but always with respect and affection.
Beyond issues of political responsibilities that must be assumed and more so a person who has been in charge of the party organization, it hurts me.
I hope that an upcoming reflection will conclude with a more correct decision [in reference to him resigning as a deputy, as the PSOE has asked him to].
But I also say that he has been a scammed, deceived person, until proven otherwise.”
Ximo Puig, in a typical 'brasserie' in Paris.Samuel Aranda
On a personal level, he believes that “the complaint against the company” of his brother Francis Puig, investigated for alleged fraud in the granting of subsidies, “is a process that will not go anywhere.”
But he acknowledges that it has affected him personally, especially "some of the atrocities that have been said."
“I trust in justice and if the company has done something wrong, it will have to pay for it,” he adds.
If not, he also expects a response, “an analysis” at least, of what has happened.
In his balance as president, the management of the pandemic stands out, in co-responsibility with society.
“We have saved many lives, but many people have also died and you always think that more could have been done.
On the other hand, there have been improvements in fundamental issues, in all the parameters of the welfare state and we have overcome the reputational problem of corruption, but also many pending issues, for example, housing.
Now, with the experience acquired, we would have governed much better.”
The installation of the Volkswagen gigafactory in Sagunto exemplifies, on the other hand, the importance of innovation and industry.
“Growth and redistribution, with environmental respect,” summarizes his social democratic ideology.
In the debate within the left between the demand for identity and the fight for universal, common values, Puig advocates for a synthesis, a meeting point of complicated balance.
It is more exhaustive with the abolition of prostitution of which the PSPV has championed and which divides the feminist world.
“The capacity for discussion and criticism of the left sometimes goes beyond what is reasonable and desirable, but it is part of progressive sentiment.
In the other hemisphere, it is imposed by authoritarian politics and critical capacity is lower or non-existent.
A more democratic right considers internal criticism as a positive fact,” she reasons.
“Now, prostitution is an issue that will be seen as an absolute anomaly, as we now see violence towards women, the historical mistreatment of them.
They cannot be understood.
It is the application of human rights.”
The rise of the far right is the main concern for any democrat, he points out.
“But the question is how to respond to the causes that cause this rise, such as the evident phenomenon of social inequality, and other issues such as cultural struggles.
There are social processes that entail insecurity in a part of the population that has the impression that the future does not count on them.
Democracy must have the capacity to integrate everyone and more from a progressive perspective.
Culture is a symbolic field, “it is the architecture of a society, and the PP has left it in the hands of the extreme right, which is against the Valencian,” Puig criticizes, returning to the local scene.
“It is terrible that the right does not speak Valencian in parliament.
In the Galician parliament everyone speaks Galician.
It is terrible what Vox has done with the young anti-fascist Guillem Agulló [killed by a neo-Nazi in 1993] by eliminating his prize and that the PP has allowed him to do so,” he concludes.
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