Catalan Government postpones elections - May 30 likely new date

The decision is agreed upon by all parties except the PSC, which might contest the decision

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Reunió de la taula de partits que s'ha celebrat aquest divendres al Parlament

Barcelona14-F is already 30-M. The Government and the Catalan parties have agreed on Friday to postpone the elections in the Parliament that had to be held on Sunday 14th February and to place them on Sunday 30th May. The argument they have given is that the current evolution of the pandemic is not favorable and the most advisable thing to do is to postpone the appointment with the polls. The postponement generates a wide consensus with one exception: the PSC is opposed to it. The Socialists see this manoeuvre as an attempt to push back the electoral horizon in Catalonia with the sole aim of lessening the momentum they had generated by changing their candidate, Miquel Iceta, for the minister Salvador Illa at the last minute. The PSC is upset, but has not clarified whether they will challenge the change of date in court.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the parties' bureau that the Government and the groups represented in Parliament created in December and that have been meeting periodically to address the uniqueness of these elections: the first in Catalonia in a pandemic context. The Catalan government, led by Pere Aragonès, went to the meeting determined to postpone the elections but in expectation of what degree of battle the opposition would present. They received criticism, but there was a high level of consensus.

Aragonès was responsible for opening the meeting. According to eyewitnesses, during the first speaking time he only explained that his idea was to postpone the elections until May or June, but without giving the exact date. Even so, the majority of the parties pressured him and, finally, he specified that the idea was to celebrate them on the 30th of May. The Health Minister, Alba Vergés, also took part in the meeting and defended that postponing the elections would be the most advisable thing to do epidemiologically. According to her, it will be less cold, there will be fewer infections and the impact of vaccination will already be "quantifiable". She mentioned, however, that there are still several uncertainties about the spread of the virus, such as the impact of the new variants that have been detected.

The rejection of the PSC

Representatives of all the groups represented in Parliament attended the meeting of the parties' bureau on Friday. The PSC was the only party that opposed the postponement until May. The socialist counter-proposal was to postpone elections, but only until 14 or 21 March. The Socialists believe that all this has been woven to slow down their good dynamic in the polls and give room for the recovery of the parties that have the polls against them. The leader of the PSC, Miquel Iceta, has not detailed if they will contest the postponement, but he has warned that they will not tolerate that in the face of the new elections the Government allows to change candidacies and coalitions that had already been closed for the 14-F. "It is one thing to change the date of the elections and another to change the rules of the game", he concluded. PSC sources assure that they will not decide anything until Monday.

Once the postponement of the elections is firm, now there is only one thing that could hinder the Government's plans: that someone challenges the decision in court. In fact, this Thursday the Spanish government already flirted with this idea. On Friday, however, the government remained silent, as Mariona Ferrer and Fornells reports. Spanish government sources state they have nothing to say at this time and that any replies is up to the parties involved. The ones who are already studying the electoral challenge is Vox, despite the fact that they have not yet made their decision. "If we find a loophole, we will challenge it", the leader of the extreme right-wing party, Santiago Abascal, said on Friday from Barcelona, according to Anna Mascaró. If this has been about postponing the elections, next week's could be about challenging the postponement, but this is still unknown. There will be a truce during the weekend.

An unprecedented event

The decision had to be taken today. As of next week the bulk of the electoral machinery had to be put into operation on its most delicate side: the economic one. The Generalitat had to advance three million euros to the parties for campaign expenses, and 5.2 million more had to be spent to send the tickets of all the parties to all Catalan homes. If the elections were annulled, it had to be before this process began.

Until now, the Catalan independence bid had been the driving force behind unprecedented events in Catalan politics. From today, however, the pandemic is also on the cards: the postponement of elections for the first time in Catalonia. 14 February is now 30 May, unless all this ends up in court.

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