Pere Aragonès reacted two days after the bad numbers of the Left and of independence in the municipal elections of May 28 with his proposal to forge a common sovereignist front. Supo a poco and at the moment the bet doesn’t work. Today he will react with another measure that affects his Government: Teresa Jordà , who will go to the ERC lists second to Gabriel Rufián, will be relieved as head of the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda and this change could also be accompanied by the dismissal of Josep Gonzà lez-Cambray at the head of the Ministry of Education. Even some sources point out that the crisis could also affect the Minister of Territory, Juli Fernández.
The effectiveness of these changes implying a shock will be dictated by the polls on July 23, but the truth is that ERC has not managed to make day-to-day management profitable. They lost 300,000 votes.
The dismissal of the minister was more than sung since Saturday, when Oriol Junqueras announced during the ERC national council that Jordà would do a tandem with Gabriel Rufián on the list for Barcelona for the July 23 elections. With her incorporation, the Republicans add experience to the list, since she was already a deputy in Congress from 2011 to 2018.
The head of Acció Climà tica has had to deal with a drought that has gripped Catalonia for more than thirty months. The rains of recent weeks have delayed the adoption of more drastic measures. Jordà and the Government were widely criticized by the opposition in Parliament, according to what they said, for not agreeing on a decree on urgent measures against water scarcity. Weeks later, it was the Catalan Chamber itself, with Junts taking control of the initiative, which modified aspects to approve a law that it was urgent to implement.
Cambray’s constant scuffles with unions, teachers and students have placed him in the spotlight. In fact, Aragonès has been considering relieving him at the helm of Educació for a long time. Until now, his tenure has been turbulent since 2021, with successive strikes in the sector and his decision to advance the school year in September. Up to two times the Parliament tried to disapprove it, but it saved face, since then Junts was in the Government and the PSC and the commons loosened up. Similarly, criticism of Cambray by the family of the twins who committed suicide in Sallent in February made a dent. The minister stated that the school “did not detect any specific situation of harassment.”
Juli Fernández came to office with the remodeling of the Government that involved the march of Junts of the Catalan Executive and his short term has been marked by his opposition to the fourth belt or the B-40, a project that the PSC put as a condition sine qua non para approving the budgets of the Generalitat for 2023. A point in which Aragonès finally had to give in.
This would be the first remodeling of the Government after the departure of Junts in October 2022, which was a good shock to the Catalan Executive. ERC occupied all the ministries for the first time since the restoration of democracy, although profiles that had held important positions in other parties: Carles Campuzano (PDECat), Quim Nadal (PSC) and Gemma Ubasart (Podem Catalunya).
The dismissals will come at a time when ERC is low on morale. The blow in the municipal elections was hard. They went from being the first force in votes in 2019 to occupying third place, behind the PSC and Junts, which despite also giving up votes, knew how to cushion the fall with a much lower percentage of vote loss. In addition, the Government only has the parliamentary support of 33 deputies (the majority is 68) and the prospect of approving new budgets next year that allow the legislature to be exhausted in a timely manner is almost nil.
In addition, the Government has an uncertain future. If the elections on July 23 are read again as an amendment to the ERC management, the president could opt for new changes or even propose an electoral advance for which, to his regret, the Republicans right now seem not to be prepared. Part of the militancy attributes the disaster in the municipal elections to the pacts with the PSOE in Madrid and the contract with the PSC to approve the budgets of the Generalitat for 2023.
