Carles Puigdemont announced this Monday from Argelers, from the Junts electoral headquarters, that he will present his candidacy for the presidency of the Generalitat in an investiture debate in the Parliament. The former Catalan president, Junts candidate in yesterday’s elections, in which his party came second with 35 seats, believes that he has a better chance of being sworn in as president than the number one of the PSC, Salvador Illa, in a second vote. with more votes in favor than against.
In a press conference, the former president pointed out that he has already maintained the first contacts with his former partner in the Government of the Generalitat, Esquerra Republicana, with whom he has proposed to recover the relationship and “build bridges” to form a “government of obedience.” clearly Catalan.” “It is not done, far from it, but we have to try and for my part it will not work,” noted Puigdemont, who trusts that it will be easier to come to terms with the current result than with the previous scenario in which there was a technical tie between both organizations.
In any case, to be a candidate in a debate in the Catalan Chamber, Puigdemont must have the complicity of the presidency of the institution, which will be elected next June. The independence movement no longer has an absolute majority in the Parliament and Junts and ERC do not add up, nor with the CUP, so it is necessary for a third actor, which would be the socialist group, to abstain in the second vote of the investiture debate. This formula that JxCat wants to explore, already exposed in the campaign, according to the independence leader, would allow the creation of a “coherent” executive. In this equation, we must take into account that Pedro Sánchez’s central Executive depends on the votes of Junts in the Congress of Deputies.
“There is more parliamentary strength in a government headed by us than in one headed by Mr. Illa,” highlighted Puigdemont, who detailed that the sum of Junts and ERC is “minimum” 55 seats, 59 if the CUP is in favor of the job. , while that of socialists and commoners is 48 seats. However, as Puigdemont has said, “this scenario is still premature” and “there are still many days left.”
As he did yesterday in his first assessment of the electoral results, Puigdemont recalled that the distance between JxCat and the PSC is the same as that which exists in the Congress of Deputies between the PSOE of Pedro Sánchez and the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “And Feijóo does not govern,” the former Catalan president remarked today.
In his speech, the post-convergent leader indicated that if there is a repeat election he would have “more options” given that he could participate in the debates and campaign in person in Catalonia for the first time since 2017. However, Puigdemont sees this scenario as “ a bad idea”.
Asked about the space for negotiation with the PSOE in Switzerland, the leader of Junts wanted to disassociate it from the negotiation for a Catalan executive and stressed that in his agreement with the PSOE for the investiture, reference was made to the agreements approved by the Parliament. not to the position of his party, such as asking for the transfer of Rodalies or an economic agreement.
In relation to his plans to return to Catalonia, the former president has reiterated that his idea is to return for the first investiture debate, whoever the candidate is. If it were him, he would do it with all the media focus.
