Junts wants to reprove Illa: "He is the worst president of modern Catalonia"

BarcelonaThe second day of the general policy debate has served to confirm the distance between Salvador Illa's government and the main opposition party, Junts, but also to confirm the pressure that his partners, Esquerra and Comuns, are willing to exert until the end of the term. The 'Juntaires' are the ones who have attacked the President of the Generalitat the hardest: the president of the parliamentary group, Mònica Sales, has described Illa as being the "worst president that modern Catalonia has had" and has proposed censuring him. Esquerra and Comuns have not been at all flattering either; quite the contrary, they have urged him to comply once and for all with the investiture agreements and also those derived from this year's budget. Illa, as usual, has chosen to dodge the criticism, especially that from Junts, and with an optimistic tone has once again extended his hand to all political forces, except Vox and Aliança Catalana.

The general policy debate, which marks the political course, has left an image not much different from that before the summer holidays. Illa has the peace of mind of having approved his first budget of the term, although he must face criticism from his allies and, especially, from the main opposition party, Junts. The 'Juntaires' want to raise their profile in the face of the growth that the polls predict for Aliança Catalana. In fact, Junts' proposal for censure is an unusual move in Parliament.

Mònica Sales justified it with a string of reproaches to the Government and asserted that Illa is making Catalonia "worse," by "anesthetizing" the nation and covering up "mismanagement" with "propaganda." She also criticized that the president "tolerates Madrid failing to comply with Catalonia by denying the resources that the Principality generates" and that he has encountered promises that, according to her diagnosis, have fallen short: "Regarding the real transfer of the IRPF, nothing; regarding Catalan national teams, nothing; regarding singular financing, nothing; regarding Rodalies, nothing. This is your influence in Madrid." She also did not approve of the Government's housing strategy and accused Illa "of having failed," and urged him to abandon "interventionism" and to build more apartments and houses. "You are not worthy of the office," she insisted.

"We will be there if he/she complies"

Beyond the criticisms from Junts, Illa has been able to confirm that he has the support of his investiture partners, despite the warnings that the two groups have issued to him. An alliance that the president of the Esquerra parliamentary group himself, Josep Maria Jové, has described as "responsible collaboration." The president of the Generalitat took up the challenge and thanked Jové and the leader of the Comuns in Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, on more than one occasion for their "sense of country."

However, both Esquerra and, with less forcefulness, the Comuns have not spared the Government from reproaches. The president of the ERC parliamentary group has stated that Illa "lacks political leadership" and that he is at the head of a government "without national ambition or management." In fact, Jové retorted that he has "failed" in his "two electoral promises" that brought him to the presidency of the Generalitat: "management" and political "normalization" between Catalonia and Spain. "Although he wants to hide the political conflict, he does not succeed, and this government's seams are showing," said the republican.

Mind you, Jové wanted to make it clear that the republicans are and will be "critical" of Illa's government, but they will not engage in "destructive opposition." "We will be there if he complies. [...] Prove that your word has value," insisted the republican, who asked him again to comply with the agreements. In turn, the Comuns have also confirmed that they want to continue working with the PSC executive, but Albiach reproached Illa for his "continuationism" and that there has been no "change in policy orientations." "They do everything halfway. [...] Your government is starting to resemble the 'Come back in five or ten years' approach," asserted the leader of the Comuns. Further to the left, CUP deputy Laure Vega urged Illa to "truly intervene in the housing market": "Ban speculative buying," she retorted.

The battle with the PP and Vox

On the Spanish nationalist right flank, the leader of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernández, has stressed that he sees Illa "much more comfortable acting as the pontiff of Catalonia than as president" because "it allows him to lecture" rather than "taking responsibility for reality" in matters such as immigration, security, or education. The Popular Party leader went as far as to say that the president sees himself as representing "the forces of good against the devil" while practicing a "self-complacent method" that "is destroying Catalonia." Illa responded by asking him to get involved in pushing forward the official status of Catalan in the EU –after the popular leader challenged him to a Catalan exam– and the singular financing model.

In turn, the leader of Vox, Ignacio Garriga, has accused Illa of being responsible for the fact that "Catalans are living more miserably" than ever, and asked the president if he "will talk to drug traffickers to eliminate" his party. He also criticized his "priest-like" tone with the quotes from the pontiff. The president, on the other hand, labeled him as "rude, demagogic, provocative, extremist, and uninformed."

Also on the extreme right, the leader of Aliança, Sílvia Orriols, portrayed "multiculturalism" as the source of all evils and criticized the poster that Junts, ERC, Comuns, and CUP displayed against hate speech, which showed the image of an espadrille stepping on a swastika: "Between an espadrille and a swastika, you choose the armchair," she quipped. The president described her as a "demagogue" and "extremist."