With just over a month to go before the parliamentary elections on May 12, the candidates’ electoral proposals are taking shape. After proposing and insisting on an independence referendum for Catalonia under article 92 of the Constitution, the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, has promised that if he is re-elected he will create a specific department for Catalan.
“My commitment is that in the next legislature, if I remain president of the Generalitat, a department for the Catalan language will be created. It is a challenge that must be placed at the highest level of the Government,” said the Republican Left candidate after visiting the Arnau Berenguer school in Palau d’Anglesola (Pla d’Urgell).
The president’s concern has to do with the social use of Catalan, beyond the actions launched by the institutions. “Having a councilor sitting at the Government table whose main mission is the defense of the social use of the Catalan language, of linguistic rights, will allow us to do this transversal work,” Aragonès stressed.
Likewise, in another order of things, the head of the Catalan Executive, who as of May 12 will hold that position in office, has assured that if he returns to head the Government of the Generalitat he will have the now Minister of Business and Work, Roger Torrent, who has fallen off the ERC lists in the Parliamentary elections. In 2020, the then president of the Parliament had calibrated his options of being the Republican candidate, but Aragonès finally prevailed.
“If it is up to me, I will be delighted to continue counting on him in the next term as councilor,” concluded the president, who highlighted that his party colleague has a “very outstanding political career” and has been, in his opinion, very good president of the Parliament and councillor.
“I’m counting on him, obviously. I am counting on him for the Government’s economic team, for the business and work team,” Aragonès has committed.
