Miriam Nogueras (Together): "The break with the PSOE is irreversible"

BarcelonaOne day after taking another step in breaking with the PSOE, Junts has made it clear that the split is "irreversible." This was stated in declarations to TVE by the party's spokesperson in Madrid, Miriam Nogueras. "The Spanish government is the one that has led us to this irreversible break," she said. This Thursday, Carles Puigdemont's party announced the veto of about fifty laws from the socialists and Sumar in Congress.

Regarding the implications of the announced veto, Nogueras said that "when it breaks down, it breaks down": "Until the breakdown, we were in dialogue and reaching agreements. All of that is over," he emphasized. "Sánchez had an investiture majority and now he doesn't, and since he doesn't have it, and since he doesn't have it..." However, the members of the regional parliament continue to rule out joining forces with the PP and Vox for a motion of no confidence.

In this regard, former conservative president José María Aznar has asserted that the breakup of Junts means the Spanish government has lost its "legitimacy." According to Aznar, if Sánchez does not call elections or submit to a vote of confidence, the Executive will be "outside the law." He expressed this view during a discussion at the Francisco de Vitoria University in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), alongside the spokesperson for the People's Party in Congress, Ester Muñoz, who affirmed that the Spanish government "doesn't care at all" about the breakup of Junts.

"Outstretched hand" and "dialogue" from the Spanish government

In fact, the state executive has downplayed the challenge from Junts. "All the effort of dialogue, understanding, commitment, and the willingness to reach agreements is what has brought us here and what will allow us to continue the legislature. I respect what our parliamentary partners say, but we must persevere," Spanish President Pedro Sánchez emphasized at a press conference in Brazil, on the sidelines of the Summit of the Summit. "I believe this is a government that has demonstrated the ability to reach agreements and talk with all the groups," he declared, hoping "that all the groups will do their part" because "the effort is worthwhile." He also reaffirmed the commitment to present the budget, despite the lack of support: "We'll give it our all and we'll present it," he said.

Sources at La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's official residence) were already reacting this Thursday morning with the same message they sent last Monday when Puigdemont announced that his party was breaking with the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). "Extended cooperation, always. The government remains open to dialogue with all parliamentary groups," is all they say. Nogueras, however, was emphatic this Friday. "The laws passed by the Spanish government were approved with Junts. From now on, this government will not be able to legislate." "We signed an investiture agreement, and we said that the stability of the legislature would depend on compliance with agreements. And the vast majority have not materialized," she argued, emphasizing that "the debt that Sánchez's government owes to the Catalans is enormous."

Despite warning that there is no turning back, in a subsequent interview on RNE, the spokesperson admitted recent moves by the state executive on issues such as the negotiation with Germany regarding Catalan in Europe and the processing of the law against repeat offenders that Junts presented in Congress. However, she said she is "very pessimistic" about the agreements and that "starting to do things is not the same as fulfilling them," according to ACN.

Together they maintain that they will bring down such important laws of the legislature such as the Bolaños Law, reforming the judicial system; or the Official Secrets Law. However, it excludes from the veto those laws that are already being processed and for which –Nogueras emphasized– the party managed to secure commitments from the governing parties: the film law, the customer service law, the social economy law, and the sustainable mobility law, in addition to the royal decree on ALS patients.