Pedro Sánchez is betting hard again, for now without any guarantee of success, to get the validation tomorrow of the first three anti-crisis decrees of the new mandate. The legislature has just begun and already it seems that it is walking on the tightrope of a tightrope walker, following Junts’ firm refusal to endorse the precepts with its seven votes. After the emergency meeting held last week in Barcelona between the secretary of organization of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, and the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, which failed to unblock the situation, yesterday she was the first vice-president of the Central government, María Jesús Montero, who offered compensation to those of Carles Puigdemont in exchange for supporting the decrees. But Junts did not pick up the glove.
The post-convergent formation demanded that the decrees be withdrawn and that they be presented separately by topic and previously agreed with their parliamentary group, so that the social shield measures are not in danger.
The spokesman and vice-president of the party, Josep Rius, asked that there be a decree for justice, another for local regime and so on in the other matters that are regulated, such as civil service, patronage, the labor field or the reform of the Capital Companies law, in which Junts wants tax incentives to be approved for companies that kept their headquarters in Catalonia in 2017 and those that decide to return, while they ask for sanctions for those that do not make and have the operational center in Catalonia. All this to reverse the effects of the decree of Mariano Rajoy’s government.
In any case, central sources already pointed out a few weeks ago that this measure, through sanctions, was unfeasible. Be that as it may, in the investiture agreement signed together by Junts and the PSOE, it was noted that negotiations would facilitate the return of the companies.
In addition, the formation of Turull also demands that the modification be withdrawn which, in his opinion, “gives a tool to the judges to delay” the application of the amnesty and other issues such as that the VAT of the oil is 0% and more financial resources for some of the modifications that the Central Executive has to the three decrees that are now in danger. “Our votes are not a blank check”, concluded Rius.
“We are trying to see if there are other issues that may be of interest to them. As in any negotiation, if there is an element in which it is difficult to reach the meeting point, it is necessary to explore the perimeter to see if there are other issues that can be incorporated”, Montero had told TVE before the Rius press conference , although the spokesman for Junts assured that he had not heard the socialist vice-president.
At the same time that they appeared at Junts headquarters, Cerdán was doing so in Ferraz, after the first meeting of the year of the socialist executive, chaired by Sánchez. The leader from Navarre invited Junts to propose the aforementioned counterparts. And he warned that those who announce their vote against the decrees, such as Junts or the PP, will have to explain it to the public, especially to the most vulnerable sectors who are, in his opinion, those who will be most harmed if the measures
In any case, Cerdán agreed with Montero that they will continue to negotiate with Junts “until the last minute” to try to save some decrees that extend the discount on the electricity bill and the VAT on basic foods or revalue pensions to 3.8%. “There is still time”, confided the vice-president, who attributes Junts’ position to its purpose of “enforcing its votes and its brand”, and gaining “visibility” to “mark differences” with ERC, which did announce their support for the decrees. “We need to stop thinking about tactical and partisan elements and think about the general interest”, demanded the vice-president. “This is not the time for short-term views”, Cerdán then concluded.
