The PSC rejects an election 'super Sunday'

No to Super Sunday The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) completely rejects this idea, which has begun circulating as a hypothesis given the deadlock in the Catalan Parliament and the Spanish Congress. It involves holding the national elections simultaneously with the Catalan elections for the first time in history, and even combining them with the Andalusian elections, despite the fact that in the latter case, the People's Party (PP), not the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), controls the electoral calendar. Since the Catalan government approved the budget, ministers and Socialist leaders have repeatedly stated that the only scenario they foresee is the budget's approval. This Monday, the PSC's number two and spokesperson, Lluïsa Moret, also rejected the idea of ​​holding simultaneous elections in Catalonia and Spain. "The PSC does not consider this scenario," she emphasized in an interview on TV3. At this point, Catalan Republicans and Socialists continue negotiating to try to find the key to negotiations that are stalled until March 20, when the amendments to the budget will be voted on in the Catalan Parliament. How are the talks with ERC progressing? According to Moret, the difference at this stage lies in the "timing" and the "process": the Republicans are demanding a guarantee that the Spanish government will support the parliamentary procedures so that Catalonia can collect income tax, but the Treasury continues to refuse. The PSC, however, insists that "no one in Madrid has ruled out" agreeing to these modifications. The Catalan Socialists emphasize that the PSOE also committed to these changes when its federal committee endorsed the agreement to invest Salvador Illa with the Republicans, and they warn that it is a "complex" issue. "Income tax isn't something that magically appears overnight," warned Moret, who framed the disagreement with ERC as stemming from the "immediacy" the Republicans are demanding for Catalonia to be able to collect income tax. All of this is happening against a backdrop of the PSOE's setbacks in Aragon and Extremadura, the upcoming elections in Castile and León, and the future elections in Andalusia. The Catalan government is calling for responsibility.

The Catalan government is also trying to shift the position of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) at its headquarters on Calabria Street. "ERC will have to make concessions regarding the budget; their commitment to the personal income tax is clear and sincere," insisted the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alícia Romero, in an interview. The Newspaper. Just as Illa didRomero has appealed to the responsibility of the Republicans to channel, through the budget, a response to the "global political crisis" by offering stability. For now, the Catalan government only has the support of the Comuns. This Monday, anticipating a possible failure of the budget vote, the Comuns demanded that the Catalan government commit to implementing the ban on speculative housing purchases agreed upon with them, with or without a budget. The minister declined to comment on what the Spanish government should do to unblock negotiations with ERC. In any case, she dismissed the possibility that the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council, where the Treasury will present the legal framework for the new financing model, would serve as a platform for the PSOE to ratify its commitment to the Personal Income Tax (IRPF). "We want a bilateral relationship with the [Spanish] government. What we will not do is have an agreement between the government and the Generalitat go through a multilateral body," she concluded.