The Second Vice President and Minister of Labor of the Spanish Government, Yolanda Díaz, has affirmed that the Government led by Pere Aragonès is in “a minority that is too minority” and has urged him to be aware of the situation and to “dialogue a lot”. In statements to Catalunya Ràdio, Díaz has opted for a “strong, solid, progressive and useful” executive. Díaz will be this weekend in Catalonia.
The minister has avoided answering whether the commons should have entered the Govern – “decisions are not made from Madrid” -, but has influenced the little parliamentary support that Aragonès has and has asked for “dialogue”. “You have to understand that you have to move forward and solve the problems”, said Díaz in reference to the president of the Generalitat, whom he has also warned that sustaining an executive in these conditions “is very difficult”.
Díaz’s statements are in line with what Ada Colau said just after the departure of Junts from the Government. The mayor of Barcelona expressed the need to have a “Govern that is not weak” and summoned Aragonès to establish broad and “stable” agreements.
Despite remaining outside the Government, the commons appeal to the influence they have at the moment to carry out the Catalan budgets. At the same time, the approval of state accounts is also on the table. On this issue, Díaz believes that they will be able to count on the support of the ERC because they “are designed to meet the needs” of the population. In reference to those that were approved for 2022, of which only 16% of what was planned for Catalonia was executed in the first semester, he considers that it is “evidence that execution must be improved.” Even so, he has also valued “compliance” with the third additional provision of the Statute on investment.
The second vice president of the Government has been aware of the link between the 2023 budgets and the dialogue table between executives. In this sense, Díaz has defended the usefulness of the negotiation with Catalonia and has shown confidence in reaching agreements. “We have made a lot of progress”, stressed the head of Labor, who has alluded to the agreements in the linguistic field and pardons.
Yolanda Díaz has acknowledged that “it is going away little by little”, noting the complexity of the situation, but has asked to “value” the progress made. “I am sure that we will reach an agreement”, reiterated the minister, who at the same time has not specified when the dialogue table will meet again, although the forecast was that it would happen before the end of the year.
One of the advances to which the Catalan side aspires at the dialogue table is dejudicialization. To work on this flank, one of the possible ways is the reform of the crime of sedition, which has not yet materialized despite the fact that it has been in the public debate for some time. Yolanda Díaz has asserted that in the Spanish State “there are criminal offense reforms to address”, including sedition, and she has claimed that some of these initiatives have arisen from her political space.
The leader of the new Sumar platform has also emphasized that Catalonia “has turned the page” on unilateralism and that it prioritizes tackling “severe problems” such as child poverty and public health. “Catalonia wants to relocate itself in our country”, she has stated.
