The Moncloa government downplays the rift in Junts: "All relationships have ups and downs."
The Spanish government is confident that the regional council members will continue to vote in favor of some initiatives in Congress.
Madrid / Barcelona"When has there ever been an investiture majority?" ask sources from the Moncloa. And this sums up why, for the Spanish government, not much has changed in the legislature in the State since Together they decided to break the Brussels agreement with the PSOEPedro Sánchez has known from day one that the parliamentary arithmetic arising from the July 23, 2023, elections was "complex," as Minister of the Presidency Félix Bolaños recalled this Tuesday at the press conference following the Council of Ministers. And now the Spanish government is downplaying the idea that Junts and Podemos are not firmly established allies of the executive branch in Congress. "All relationships have their ups and downs," stated the spokesperson for the Moncloa, Pilar Alegría.
The Spanish president has already assumed a role of resistance, of surviving despite failing to approve budgets and winning or losing agonizing votes. The key will be to see how the upcoming votes unfold. This Tuesday, the day after the split, Junts will support a PSOE bill to increase penalties for those who park in parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities. "Is it easy? No," they admit in Moncloa about the situation in which Sánchez is left, and they are waiting to see if the communication channels change once the decision is made. Together consultation which must ratify the decision of the leadership. From now on, the Spanish government will argue that what is being voted on is good for Catalonia, which is the requirement set by Junts for voting in favor of executive initiatives, and will try to make any hypothetical failures in Congress the responsibility of the opposition and not its own.
"We will continue with the same approach we have worked on for years. The policies of the Spanish government have been good for Catalonia," insisted Alegría, who reiterated that the Spanish executive will "put its money where its mouth is" to approve a new budget. However, no date has yet been set for the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, where it must present the spending and deficit ceiling, as well as for the approval of the stability path to the Council of Ministers, before subsequently going to Congress. In any case, he reiterated that the current accounts "are good and have allowed Spain to be the economic engine of the EU." However, the budget vote is doomed to fail and holds a symbolic value for the state of a government's health.
"Without a budget, without legislative capacity, and without a parliamentary majority, it cannot continue," said PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The conservative prime minister is still waiting to see if the split in Junts will lead to something more than a vote of no confidence that could lead him to present a vote of no confidence with any chance of success, but the secretary general of the Junts party, Jordi Turull, again ruled out supporting it on Tuesday. This scenario gives Sánchez another argument to downplay the move by Carles Puigdemont's party.
"The prime minister's role is not to mediate."
In Catalonia, the Catalan government maintains that Junts' decision has "no impact" on Catalonia and trusts that, despite the rift, the regional council members will still vote in favor of proposals such as new funding and possible improvements to the commuter rail service when they reach Congress. In any case, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, does not plan to pick up the phone to try to mediate between Puigdemont and Sánchez. "The role of the president of Catalonia is not to mediate. It is to govern," said the government spokesperson and regional minister for Territory, Silvia Paneque, when asked if Isla could make moves to try to bring Sánchez and Puigdemont, with whom he met about two months ago, closer together. "Pedro Sánchez's government is very good for Catalonia, and we need stability," was the only response given by the Catalan president, Salvador Illa, before participating in an event in Esplugues de Llobregat.
At a press conference following the executive council meeting, Paneque refused to assess "the decisions of any party" and expressed his hope that the Spanish president "complete the term of office," despite the arithmetic difficulties he faces now that Junts has withdrawn its support. Far from distancing himself from Carles Puigdemont's party, Paneque emphasized that the Catalan government's intention is to "engage in dialogue" with all Catalan parties to reach agreements, regardless of whether its preferred partners are ERC and Comuns. "It is no less true that we open the door to all groups that want to support the process," he emphasized. In fact, and in a Catalan sense, he explained that they will soon share the renewable energy decree approved this Tuesday with the other parliamentary groups, including Junts.
