JxCat stalls the investiture and pushes for the Council for the Republic

Esquerra and the CUP have closed a pre-agreement for the investiture of Pere Aragonès, but for now Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) is on the sidelines and this Tuesday has made it clear that it will only get involved if there is a "stable" government and "mistrust" is overcome. In a conference at the headquarters of the ONCE in Barcelona, the party's secretary general, Jordi Sànchez, said that today there is no agreement "solid enough" to "overcome the social and economic crisis" or for "there to be political consequences" of the indeoendence's movement majority in the popular vote. Although he has ruled out the scenario of new elections, he has said the agreement was a few "days or weeks" away - a formula he has repeated several times during the speech - and has called on Esquerra Republicana (ERC) and CUP to continue negotiating "day and night" if necessary.

Sànchez has shown himself willing to explore the negotiating table that Esquerra agreed with the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) in a "loyal" way, despite expressing his "scepticism" about the PSOE's attitude. Citing a fragment of a book by ERC's Oriol Junqueras and Marta Rovira, in which they also admit the difficulty for the State to accept to resolve the conflict, Sànchez has invited pro-independence supporters to build an alternative strategy. Some scenarios that, he has made clear, Junts believe should be decided on in the Consell per la República. This is one of the current discrepancies between the coalition partners, since ERC is committed to creating a new decision-making body to lead the Independence bid - and CUP agrees.

The secretary general of Junts assured that the party "wants" the next president of the Generalitat to be Pere Aragonès - thus dispelling doubts about the possibility of asking ERC to change candidates - but only if there is an alliance for "the whole legislature" - also a way of criticising the question of confidence that the CUP and Esquerra have agreed on in the middle of the term. "We don't need empty commitments or blind endorsements. A coalition government requires trust between two partners. We have learned from our mistakes, we don't want the next government to be a Vietnam", he concluded, thus ruling out giving Aragonès votes and continuing to negotiate afterwards.

In addition to the dialogue table and the Consell per la República, Sànchez has also set Junts' priorities for the next legislature, which include "leading" a different way of tackling the coronavirus pandemic and also the management of European funds. This was a warning to Esquerra to indicate what their demands are in terms of governability: to pilot the Next Generation European resources from the Economy -ERC wanted to command them from a commissioner with Miquel Puig- and the Department of Health with Dr. Josep Maria Argimon. These will be, along with external action, part of the knots in the negotiation of the distribution of portfolios.

The conference was attended by the main leaders of JxCat, as well as the Vice-President of the Government, Pere Aragonès (ERC), accompanied by the main Republican negotiators, the CUP MPs Eulàlia Reguant and Laia Estrada and the representatives of the ANC (Elisenda Paluzie) and Òmnium (Marcel Mauri). Once the speech was over, Sànchez - who has been released from Lledoners and will return to prison this Wednesday at eleven o'clock - spent a long time talking with Aragonès under the watchful eye of the attendees. Nothing has transcended from the conversation, but although it started off tense and with a serious tone, it ended up being relaxed.

In the same line, Junts per Catalunya sources assure that they do not feel bound to the pact reached between Esquerra and CUP, of which they have been left out. "If we have to set up a government, we will not apply a programme that they have agreed without us", they affirm, besides adding that they will not give Aragonés a free ride. Instead, they seek "stable" agreements for the whole parliamentary term. "We are not closing any doors, but we have to keep talking", added the same sources. What is it that Junts does not accept in the agreement with the CUP? In addition to assuring that it is "incomplete" for a government programme, they do not share measures such as the progressive elimination of educational agreements or the end of public-private collaboration. In his speech, Sànchez, in fact, defended the "public network" of schools, which includes both public and subsidised schools, as well as the work of the administration with the social entities of the third sector. He also emphasised the need to "shield" linguistic immersion from the powers of the state, pointing out that the pre-agreement between Esquerra and the CUP does not talk about language.

In fact, several JxCat leaders are annoyed by the way in which Esquerra has carried out the negotiation. They consider that closing a deal with the CUP before with them is a strategy to try to corner them into making a deal quickly. They assure, however, that the pressure will not have any effect. Yesterday the party spokesperson, Elsa Artadi, said that they had not yet set their position on the election of Aragonés. Most sources, however, believe it "complicated" that between now and Friday - only three days left - an agreement can be reached. If Aragonès does not obtain an absolute majority in the first round, a second round will be held either on Sunday or Tuesday, where a simple majority will suffice. If, however, Aragonès obtains more noes than ayes, the parties will have two more months to vote in a new government. If they fail, new elections will be automatically called. There would also be the option, albeit a remote one, of Pere Aragonès not taking the step for this debate on Friday to give more time for negotiation, and then it would be Salvador Illa (PSC) who would activate the countdown clock until the elections with a failed investiture (he does not have a majority).

Pressure from ERC and CUP

In parallel, from Madrid, both the head of Esquerra's ranks, Gabriel Rufián, and the CUP MP Mireia Vehí have pressured the party led by Carles Puigdemont, who this Tuesday is meeting in Waterloo with the CUP's Carles Riera and Dolors Sabater. Rufián has assured, in statements to the media, that "it would not be understood" if Junts did not feel drawn to the "ambitious" agreement between ERC and CUP and has insinuated that JxCat's problem is that they have not come to terms with losing the elections. "Those who have won more often find it hard to accept that another has won" and more so "taking into account the political space we are talking about," he said, despite trusting that the negotiators will reach an agreement.

In turn, Mireia Vehí (CUP) was convinced that Junts will facilitate the investiture. "No one can imagine repeating elections in a context of coronavirus crisis. JxCat will be responsible," she said, in addition to also questioning En Comú: "We would not understand that they do not support an increase in staff or public banking".