Salvador Illa sees "room for agreement" with ERC, but the Republicans reply: "Press the PSOE"

BarcelonaIt has been a week since Salvador Illa returned to work, and this Wednesday he faced his first parliamentary question time since being diagnosed with osteomyelitis pubis. The President of the Generalitat received a warm welcome and the support of all members of parliament for a return marked by a clash with the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) over the budget. This weekend, the Republicans They slammed the door on negotiating the accounts. And this Wednesday they again demanded that the Catalan government fulfill the condition they set for sitting down to discuss the budget: clearing the way for Catalonia to collect income tax. "There is room for agreement. I extend my hand and ask you to take it," Illa argued, addressing the president of the Republican group in the Catalan Parliament, Josep Maria Jové. The ERC leader, however, demanded that the head of the executive "pressure" the PSOE and not Esquerra to comply with the income tax collection. "The one he should be pressuring is the PSOE, not us," asserted Jové, who assured that the Republicans maintain their open hand.

This was supposed to be the week in which the Catalan government began the process of bringing the budget to fruition. Despite the Republicans' refusal, the executive has decided to maintain the initial plan and The budget bill will be approved this Friday. in the executive council to begin processing them in Parliament. "This is not the end of anything, it is the beginning of a parliamentary process," Illa argued, also assuring that he will make the necessary "efforts" to try to unblock the accounts. In fact, the president assured that he "fulfills" all his commitments and stated that 75% of the agreements with ERC have already been fulfilled or are in the process of being fulfilled: "I will fulfill the IRPF (Personal Income Tax) just as I have done with the financing, which is a tangible fact, or with Rodalies.cat (Catalan commuter rail)." "We will never leave the table and if necessary we will guarantee that the Generalitat's resources reach the citizens," Jové reiterated. Esquerra has already offered to negotiate the supplementary credits in case the budget ultimately fails. The Republicans maintain that they will not sit down to negotiate the budget until they see "guarantees" of compliance regarding the personal income tax issue. For now, Salvador Illa's government only has one thing tied up. the support of the Commons, with whom they signed an agreement last weekThe agreement included, among other things, a ban on speculative housing purchases. This commitment by the Catalan government has been criticized by the leader of the People's Party (PP), Alejandro Fernández, who argued that "without private property there is no democracy." Health Minister Illa, however, described the agreement with the Comuns as "bold" and stated: "I may make mistakes, and if I do, I will correct them. But I will not stand idly by." The CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) has also criticized the measure, but in their case, because they see "loopholes."

Illa compareixerà pel chaos de Rodalies

Junts has seized upon the disagreement between the Socialists and Republicans to delve into the "instability" of the Catalan government. "Processing the budget without the support of our partners is a veiled vote of confidence," argued the president of the Junts parliamentary group, Mònica Sales, who also criticized the government for not presenting the budget a year ago when it also lacked guaranteed support. "Now they're doing it because they say it's essential. But the problem isn't timing, it's trust," Sales retorted, accusing Illa of "not complying with the mandates of the chamber": "He hasn't dismissed Minister Paneque and he hasn't taken Renfe and Adif to court." The Junts members had specifically requested Illa's appearance before the Catalan Parliament to explain the chaos of recent weeks on the Rodalies commuter rail network. A request the president has assured he will fulfill: "I have no objection to appearing as requested. I will vote in favor of this appearance to find a date as soon as possible."