ERC continues to pursue the convention to resolve the political conflict agreed upon two years ago with the PSC

BarcelonaThe star agreement that the PSC and ERC signed for the investiture of Salvador Illa involved moving forward with a new financing model for Catalonia. In that pact, however, socialists and republicans also signed a commitment that went more unnoticed and which, two years later, has not materialized: creating a national convention to resolve Catalonia's political conflict. A forum that, under other names, was tried at the beginning of the process when the National Pact for the Right to Decide and, later, the National Pact for the Referendum were first promoted. The last mechanism that was put into operation was the dialogue table between the Generalitat and the Spanish government, but with the investiture of Salvador Illa, it was formally deactivated. The republicans are returning to the fray, proposing a new parliamentary vote along the lines of the one they already won last year during the general policy debate, with the support of the PSC, Junts, Comuns and the CUP. This year, Esquerra is bringing this issue up again in one of the resolution proposals that will be debated in the chamber and is going one step further: it is trying to set an initial calendar.

In this way, according to the text to which ARA has had access, the republicans propose that this debate forum present "its proposals and conclusions within one year of its constitution". According to the investiture pact, these conclusions should be presented to Parliament. However, the ERC's resolution proposal does not set any deadline for establishing the mechanism. In fact, the investiture agreement established that the convention had to be created in the first plenary session after the constitution of Salvador Illa's new government; that is, at the beginning of autumn 2024. This calendar immediately fell apart when both parties agreed to postpone it, trying to first seek an agreement with the rest of the groups that were to be part of it, especially Junts, which had maintained its reservations.

Last year, the Junts members voted in favor of the ERC's resolution proposal and Oriol Junqueras's party saw it as an opportunity to materialize the understanding. This Thursday they will have a second opportunity. Within ERC, there are several voices consulted who defend unblocking this issue to bring the national narrative back to the forefront.

In the text, Esquerra argues that this convention should "appeal to the whole of Catalan society" and that "political forces, social agents, and civil society that are governed by the unrenounceable principles of democratic dialogue" should participate. In the investiture agreement, it was also established that the Government had to create an office that would allow "securing the human, technical, and material resources" for this dialogue to move forward.

A solution "endorsed by the citizenry"

In the same resolution proposal, ERC again defends a solution for the political conflict that is "based on a broad consensus of society" and that is "endorsed by the citizenry of Catalonia". It is the same formula that the republicans used in last year's general policy debate, when they no longer included the word referendum and, in exchange, the PSC endorsed their resolution proposal.

In parallel, the republicans once again demand that the Spanish courts apply the amnesty law –this Tuesday they applied it to Marta Rovira–, especially after the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and they condemn its "undemocratic blocking attitude".