"It was hard to find people": Jordi Domingo's ordeal to form a government in the Council of the Republic

Barcelona"In the coming days, I intend to announce the members of my government. They will be six free and independent individuals of international prestige, with an unquestionable record of service and committed to our objective." This was stated by the new president of the Council of the Republic, Jordi Domingo, in the last letter he sent to those registered with this entity on March 17. A month later, the entity still has no government, although Domingo was chosen in February, a month earlier.

The delay in choosing the new executive contrasts with the speed with which his predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, chose the entity's executive. After winning the elections on February 19, 2024, and being proclaimed president by the ombudsman's office five days later, Puigdemont formed the government on March 1. The new executive will not be formed until May 17, although it was originally intended to be announced on the 10th. That day, however, the Junts municipalist convention is being held and the ANC is packed.

But why has it taken so long to form it? In a conversation with ARA, Domingo admits that he was aware of the difficulties he would face in forming a team and that not everyone he spoke to was willing to join the project: "Forming the government has been difficult; less than people imagine, but there have been many people who have said no due to lack of time or even health problems, and others who have to leave the Council." In fact, he acknowledges that he wanted to form the new Consell government at the beginning of April, as he announced to those registered, but says they encountered "more problems than expected" and that it was "fair and hasty."

The internal crisis of the entity –which was dissolved in a management board a few months ago and which called elections due to the various scandals in the management of the economic resources that Toni Comín had made as vice president– has not made it easy: "I knew that forming a government with the current circumstances would be difficult because we have to recover its prestige. Be that as it may, Domingo minimizes the slamming of the door by those who have not joined: "I did not consider specific people, but a wide range."

Closed team of six people

However, Domingo reveals that he has now finalized the new executive committee, which will be composed of six people (with Puigdemont there were ten), although it could still be expanded with more members in recent days. "I'm very happy that they've taken this step because this first core group is made up of nationally and internationally recognized people." Without wanting to reveal any names, he confirms, as he promised during the campaign, that there are no organic positions from any party, but there are people who have been linked, and others who haven't. "It's a very transversal government; I applied the criterion of 1-O when we weren't asking ourselves if this one belonged to one party or another. There's a bit of everything," he asserts.

However, the new president of the Consell plays down the delay: "It didn't take that long. I didn't take office until a few days later, and the management board didn't transfer me until the first half of March, and the weeks have gone by." He also emphasizes that he first needed to get to know the association. "We've put our house in order and analyzed the situation; we've met with the local councils and we still have pending matters, as well as with organizations and parties, and everything takes time."

REVOLUCIONÉMOSNOS, the candidacy that came in second in the elections, doesn't see it the same way. This candidacy, now transformed into a critical movement that gives voice to the less pro-government local councils, denounces the mismanagement: "Two months after being inaugurated, Jordi Domingo does not have the government of high international prestige that he promised." In a very forceful statement, the movement even demands that he step aside so as not to lead the entity to "disappear": "Perhaps before saying that he wants to make the Consell bigger, he should humbly consider the possibility that the Consell is getting bigger than him."