Emiliano García-Page, President of Castilla-La Mancha and candidate for re-election, urged socialist candidates for the upcoming elections on Saturday to respond to insults with projects and not with insults, and to govern “for everyone,” whether they support the PSOE or not. “I am not here to make Castilla-La Mancha socialist,” he said during a meeting with citizens in Jábaga (Cuenca), with which the PSOE began the pre-election campaign, urging those present to be “from Cuenca, from Castilla-La Mancha” because “many people who may not agree with us on everything understand that it is in their best interest for us to lead the government of the region, the province, and our towns.”
In his opinion, socialists have to govern for everyone because politics is not about making one part of the region happy and leaving the other “mad.” Therefore, he urged his candidates to conduct a “clean” campaign, thinking above all, he said, “about the people who matter to us” and that parties “are tools of society to achieve things, good things for everyone, not just for one side, but for everyone.”
He emphasized the importance he places on his PSOE candidates not being “just to oust the one in front.” He said that “that is not the objective, but to make every town better and people live better,” compared to those that “do not want this land, but rather want to get rid of me,” referring to the Popular Party. “The objective must be to make this better, that’s how we win elections,” he said.
Emiliano García-Page also asked socialists not to respond to insults with insults. “The best strategy is a proposal, a project in response to an insult,” he said. He took advantage of this opportunity to announce the recovery of aid for celiacs, which will take place on Tuesday in the Council of Government. “We had them, we recovered them, then there were many management problems,” he admitted, explaining that these aids are being recovered “not only because of the campaign,” but with a commitment to make them permanent year after year.
“We have shown people that there are two ways to understand crises and get out of them: by destroying, breaking, blocking, and firing people, or by hiring, improving, and investing.” he said. “I promised that I would do the opposite of Cospedal, and I have fulfilled that. I am fulfilling it,” he added, pointing out that “it is not the same who governs,” and sure that he will never “hide Bono or Barreda,” while “for the four years they were there, some are trying to hide their president, Cospedal, they know why.”
In this context, he referred to those who accuse him of expropriating land. “If I dared to expropriate land in this region, I would resign,” he underlined, stating that if not, “the slanderers will have to resign.” He warned those present that there are “a lot of hoaxes and lies” and they should prepare in that sense.
He also referred to the polls, saying that he does not read them and that they are going to “heat them up,” although most of them “are completely false.” “They are going to try to discourage us and even take away our morale by those who have never had any,” he warned. “My problem in the campaign is how to tell people that I have a tremendous passion when I accumulate so much pride and satisfaction in what we have done.”
Emiliano García-Page announced his intention to present “hundreds of projects,” and explained that the election program will include “a thousand proposals or more,” convinced that citizens know “that we end up fulfilling them.” “What is hard for me is what we have not done,” he said, accepting that “to speak forcefully and from the heart, you have to be autonomous.” He said he was grateful to his party for “allowing me to think, opine, talk and decide” with my conscience, “which is a lot.”
Finally, he confessed that now “we have to work hard” and appealed not to take “anything for granted.” “It is not all done,” he insisted, because “campaigns know how they start, but never how they end.” “We cannot relax after fighting for four years in municipalities, the council or the community,” he declared, convinced that “it is important to arrive here with truths and realities, but also very important to explain it to the people and make them feel as proud of our work as we are.”
Previously, the head of the list for the provincial courts and regional vice president, José Luis Martínez Guijarro, highlighted successes of the legislature, such as the Cuenca hospital, 1,500 more companies in the province since García-Page became president, and “brave decisions” such as the XCuenca Plan or the mechanical lifts for the capital.
“We can go to the towns and say we have delivered,” said Martínez Guijarro, valuing how “the alignment of the institutions with the province of Cuenca is very good for it,” then asked the socialist candidates to “have ambitious projects in mind that give another boost to the province of Cuenca” and to make “audacious election programs, based on realism.” In the end, he assured that “things are going well, but we cannot be too confident,” urging everyone to work because “we need all the votes, as always.” He warned that if Emiliano García-Page does not remain in the regional government, the PP “will stop projects,” and with the regional president of the PP, Paco Núñez, allied with Vox, “there will be hoaxes by all means.”
