BARCELONA – SÁBADO, 25/04/2020
Beatriz Silva (MP for PSC), ex-prosecutor Carlos Jiménez Villarejo, former MP of Catalunya-Sí-que-es-Pot Lluís Rabell, analyst Gemma Galdon, filmmaker Isabel Coixet and painter Perico Pastor
Catalan left-wing figures have signed a manifesto to say “enough” to the “political mismanagement of the Catalan Government and its unsupportive and irresponsible statements” about the coronavirus crisis.
The document is signed by 40 politicians, intellectuals and artists, among which stand out the MP of the PSC in the Parliament Beatriz Silva, the former prosecutor Carlos Jiménez Villarejo, the former MP of Catalunya sí que es Pot Lluís Rabell, the former senator of En Comú Podem Óscar Guardingo, the analyst Gemma Galdon, the filmmaker Isabel Coixet, the painter Perico Pastor and the journalist Ramón de España.
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The text alludes to the affirmation of the spokeswoman of the Catalan Government, Meritxell Budó, that in an independent Catalonia “there would not have been so many deaths” as “the drop that has filled the glass”: “We ask the Government of the Generalitat and its’ consellers ‘stop using the pandemic as a political weapon, assume their responsibilities and behave in solidarity and empathy with the rest of the peoples of the Spanish State, think of the good of citizens as a primary objective and work especially to improve the people’s living conditions and cease to practice partisan, confronted and interested policies. “
As a sign of the Government’s mismanagement, the document highlights the “unsustainable situation of residences for the elderly, exclusive competence of the Generalitat”, as a consequence of “an outsourcing to private companies with clearly lucrative purposes and the terrible and passive performance of the Social Affairs Department that, before transferring the powers to Health Department, saw many older people die in more than painful conditions. “
CiU cuts in healthcare
The manifesto also denounces the “unsustainable situation of Catalan healthcare, which suffered the biggest and first cuts in the entire Spanish State” in an “action carried out by CiU, currently JuntsxCat leading Catalan Government”.
The text also harshly criticizes the performance of the ‘president’ Quim Torra, for his “inconsistent and out of place statements, designed more to go against the central government than to join efforts”, and for his “story of superiority and contempt for the rest of the State with complaints and interviews in international media distorting the actions of the Spanish Government. “
In addition, the document puts in question what it considers other nonsense of the Govern, such as the “ridiculous and out of place statements of the ‘conseller’ Buch in relation to the number of masks that have arrived in Catalonia, which coincided with the number 1714” and the “Initial rejection of the aid proposed by the Military Union of Emergencies, to later urgently require it”.
Misrepresentations in public media
The signatories also cry out against the “biased misrepresentation of information by the Catalan public media, counterprogramming the appearances of the Spanish Government and expressing continuous complaints against their actions.” As an example, the manifesto cites “when it was said that the Barcelona City Council was overwhelmed by the issue of residences and asked for help from the Generalitat, which, in reality, is who has the powers.”
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20200425/manifiesto-govern-crisis-coronavirus-7940140
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