The international mediator asks Junts to withdraw the vote of confidence in Pedro Sánchez

Barcelona"A rupture of space would mean a setback that would be difficult to overcome, which would stop progress that my role as verifier prevents me from revealing, but not knowing." With these words, the Salvadoran diplomat Francisco Galindo, who acts as mediator between the PSOE and Junts, has asked Carles Puigdemont's party to withdraw the debate on the question of confidence Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, which is expected to be voted on Tuesday in Congress. Galindo, who is following the state of the talks between the two parties, believes that it would be a gesture by the Junts that would avoid the "breakup". Until now, the mediator had only expressed himself publicly once: the day the mediation began.

Now he has done so with a statement, to which ACN has had access, in which he urges Junts to back down so as not to negatively influence the negotiations, where "more sensitive" issues are being discussed. Galindo's statement is dated this Saturday and signed from Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, and the mediator notes that there have been "significant advances" and "mutual efforts", although he does not deny the "differences". "The work that has been carried out in my presence has allowed us to note the existing differences, the difficulties to overcome and the mutual efforts to try to reach agreements and significant progress", says Galindo.

In the short term, Junts is demanding that the agreement on the transfer of powers in matters of immigration be materialised. Sources with access to the evolution of the conversations indicate that Junts and the PSOE are about to reach an agreement on this matter. The leadership of the junteros will meet on Monday morning to assess the latest movements. The secretary general of the party, Jordi Turull, has called the executive at 10, but without giving any clues as to whether there is a closed agreement. "He asked us to withdraw the PNL [the non-law proposal on the question of confidence] to avoid a break-up and give time to materialise very advanced issues," Turull told the party leadership, and warned that the meeting on Monday will be monographic to decide what to do with the request of the international mediator. The party's secretary general also asked members of the executive not to make public statements on social media or in the media until they have made a decision.

This Sunday, one of the regular negotiators for the socialist side, former Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was optimistic. "We are trying to avoid a breakup because I think this is good and allows us to move forward agreement by agreement," he stressed in a press conference from Castilla y León, where the PSOE is holding a territorial congress. Zapatero admitted that there is a "deterioration of confidence on the part of Junts due to some important aspects in the fulfillment of the agreements," but stressed that it can be redirected, among others, thanks to the work of the mediator, whose "very commendable" work he carries out.

Political significance

Galindo notes that, one year after the investiture agreement, "it is a real fact that, today, some of the points on which there is political agreement between both parties have not materialized," which would have pushed Junts to propose the PNL. However, the Salvadoran diplomat explains that he has asked Junts to withdraw the proposal "aware of the political significance that the approval of this parliamentary initiative may entail for the negotiation process." The result of the vote on the debate on the question of confidence, scheduled for next Tuesday, would be symbolic because Sánchez is the only one capable of submitting to a binding question of confidence and he has already said that he will not do so, but a defeat for the Spanish president would show that he lacks the support of the majority in Congress.

The PSOE ended up accepting that the Congress table would process the Junts initiative after having tried for weeks to stop it by arguing technical problems in the wording, which Junts ended up resolving. However, the real reason for accepting the vote was the favorable vote of the councilors to the social shield, which included, among other measures, the increase in pensions and aid to public transport.

The mediator's statement comes after the twelfth meeting of the negotiation and mediation space between the PSOE and Junts, Made on Friday in Switzerland, and where the mediator participated in person.