JxCat and ERC again clash over the pace of the negotiations for the investiture

BarcelonaThe fact that this year's Sant Jordi has been able to return to the streets - with limitations - has not softened the difficult relations between ERC and JxCat. On a day in which politicians stroll, sign books and make statements, the distance between the parties was clear and the possibility of an agreement to put an end to seven months of interim government seems remote. The discrepancies this Friday have focused on the pace of negotiation. JxCat believes there is no hurry to sign a pact because it is necessary to ensure that the next government is "strong". ERC believes everything is an "excuse", since it considers that forming a solid executive is compatible with acting swiftly.

The president of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, has been the first to fire assuring that it is more important to prioritise a "strong and solid" government rather than a hasty agreement. "All those who are in a hurry now would ask for this strength if the it happened quickly and there were disagreements," she said in an institutional statement on the occasion of Sant Jordi. Thus, the president of the Parliament has already warned that she still does not immediately plan to open a round of contacts with groups for a new plenary session of investiture. She added that she will do so when "there are signs" that it can go ahead and not fail, and has opted to let the negotiations "mature".

As for ERC, theeverything indicated they would insist on forming a government urgently, but Borràs's words have led them to raise the tone. Aragonès (ERC), has urged Junts to sign an agreement "as soon as possible", and has responded to Borràs that it is possible to make a "strong" executive before the end of April. The deputy secretary general of Esquerra, Marta Vilalta, has also made reference to this, and has regretted that JxCat is not swifter reaching an agreement. "Forming a strong Government swiftly is not incompatible. At this point what are not valid are the excuses," she said.

Thus, while Junts is convinced that a good agreement cannot be reached in a hurry, ERC is convinced that it is a delaying strategy to bring the negotiation closer to the deadline - May 26th - and that everything will return to the atmosphere of vertigo of previous occasions. This Thursday in Parliament the two parties closed the first folder of the agreement, referring to how they will coordinate to avoid crisis when the new Government is formed, but the definitive pact is still far away.

The opposition criticises the paralysis

And, as expected, the parties of the opposition have returned to take advantage of the discrepancies between the two partners to criticize the institutional paralysis that has been installed in Catalonia. The leader of En Comú, Jéssica Albiach, has done so by calling on ERC to break off negotiations with JxCat. For her, a new ERC-JxCat executive will never be "cohesive or solid", so she has asked the Republicans to seek an alternative pact with the comuns and the PSC. The leader of the Socialists in the Parliament, Salvador Illa, has urged the new executive "to come back to Earth" and has appealed to the "spirit of Sant Jordi, which unites all Catalans". Carlos Carrizosa (Cs) has also demanded that the mandate is disqualified so that a new Government begins to work to "solve problems", while Alejandro Fernández (PP) has criticised Borràs for pronouncing on the formation of the new executive. "Her role is institutional and she would do well to spared us her political opinions," he criticised.

Cuixart: "Generosity and high mindedness".

The president of Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, who has been able to leave prison this Sant Jordi with a one-day prison permit has taken advantage of it to participate in an act organised by the organisation¡, has also commented on political current events, reports Mireia Esteve. Cuixart has asked for "generosity and high mindedness" from the pro-independence leaders to form a government. This prospect however, Sant Jordi or not, does not seem close.