Waiting for a serious new Government

This week the negotiation to form the new Government enters its decisive phase, and on Friday, at the latest, Pere Aragonès should be, in principle, invested the 132nd president of the Generalitat. It would be unforgivable if there were no agreement between the main pro-independence forces for partisan reasons or over the distribution of cabinet posts. It has been a month since the elections and, so far, from what the parties have communicated, they have not yet begun to talk about what the new Government will be like. Considering the situation of economic, social and health crisis that the country is going through, it is clear that they are running late.

Now, however, it seems that serious talks will begin and could accelerate in the coming days. The first step was taken yesterday with the pre-agreement signed by ERC and CUP on the investiture. Even so, there is nothing to suggest that the anti-capitalists will finally enter the Government, which is expected to be, as the last, a coalition between ERC and JxCat, with each taking half of cabinet seats. Junts have seen the announcement of this pre-agreement as a way to put pressure on them over the negotiation, but it can also be read as a logical way to move towards the ultimate goal, since to achieve the investiture the agreement of the CUP is also needed. Now the discussion between the two major pro-independence parties will focus on who gets what. The sticking points that can be seen in these negotiations will be the management of European funds -during the campaign, ERC had proposed that they depend on a specific commissioner, but JxCat wants to manage it all from the Department for the Economy-, foreign action, which both parties want to lead, and also social policies, which receive the bulk of the budget.

This distribution of posts and portfolios, however, could lead to the same path as in the last legislature and, therefore, to the same crises. It would be important to establish clear channels and relationship protocols that would avoid the mess and the pitiful spectacle of the recent past. For this reason, coordination systems would be needed to ensure the circulation of information among all the members of the government so that everyone would be jointly responsible for the government's actions. There needs to be a common road map, a clear and honest internal debate on the path to follow in different areas and a mechanism for settling differences that is agile and clear.

Citizens have already done their job and are being very patient in times of difficulty. Let us remember that in January 2020 the coalition government that is now coming to an end was already "written off" and, first the pandemic and then the disqualification of President Torra without elections having been called, have prolonged the agony of a Government that is less and less active and less and less executive. Catalonia needs a Government that is strong, united in its objectives, proactive and that promotes reconstruction. The task ahead is enormous and we cannot waste time in internal squabbles. Before we begin, we need to lay the foundations of a serious coalition.