The “Abandon the ship”, “go out the back door”, “put the party before the country”. Critics have burst forth from all sides at the announcement of the departure of the Spanish Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, sent to Catalonia as head of the Socialist Party list for the regional elections to be held there on February 14. A controversy which is reminiscent of the resignation, in February 2020, of the former French Minister of Health, Agnès Buzyn, to engage in the battle of the municipal elections in Paris while the health crisis began to overflow hospitals.
Advance on December 30, but taking effect on Tuesday, January 26, barely three days before the start of the electoral campaign, on January 29, Salvador Illa’s decision caused a general outcry in Spain, even as the third wave hits hard the country which recorded, Saturday and Sunday, 93,000 new positive cases and 767 deaths, posting an incidence rate of 420 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over one week.
Moderation and capacity for dialogue
“He left the government at the worst time, with a record of contaminations. The election is more important to him than his lives ”, launched Carolina Telechea, member of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), a party that has been one of the main supporters of the left government since the start of the legislature, in January 2020, and with which relations have grown strained approaching the campaign. Even Jaume Asens, spokesperson for Unidas Podemos, the radical left linked by a coalition with the Socialists in the government, saw fit to warn Mr. Illa that his refusal to appear before parliament to draw up a final assessment of pandemic, could lead to ” many people »Think he used his post “For its interests and electoral priorities”.
Behind these criticisms also points the fear that the candidacy of Salvador Illa, a 54-year-old philosopher, will overthrow the Catalan chessboard. Appreciated for his moderation and his capacity for dialogue, to the point of making people forget his management errors, he was a complete stranger when Pedro Sanchez called him, in January 2020, to enter the government. His appointment to the Ministry of Health, a position usually insignificant, since the skills in this area are decentralized, brought him to the forefront of the political scene because of the pandemic. According to a poll by the Center for Sociological Research (CIS) published on January 21, the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), hitherto given third place in opinion polls, is now positioned as the favorite for the Catalan elections, with 23.9% of voting intentions. The media are already talking about the possible “Illa effect”.
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