Nobody expected Míriam Nogueras’s intervention in the investiture debate to be an exercise in diplomacy, but the Junts spokesperson in Congress made an effort to show her most demanding side to Pedro Sánchez. Nogueras wanted to make it clear that they are not willing to tolerate Sánchez’s dialectical balance regarding the amnesty, in his speech as a candidate. If the socialists have to be forgiven by a part of their electorate for carrying out this grace measure, Junts must also do a lot of pedagogy with their own to defend the negotiation. “Don’t tempt luck with us. His speech was not brave,” Nogueras snapped at Sánchez, as soon as he began his intervention, which he made entirely in Catalan.
The Junts spokesperson’s entire speech had that warning tone. “Are you willing to address the Catalan issue directly as we have agreed and signed?” She asked, reminding the acting president that “the stability of the legislature depends on compliance with the agreements” signed between the PSOE and Junts. . It will be a continuous negotiation. “Can you confirm that you are willing to comply with the 1,486 words of the agreement?” She stressed, vehemently.
And he made it clear that Junts will change the way of negotiating that Catalanism had traditionally had and will support the Government “for as long as possible.” “Instead of making a shopping list, always dissatisfied, we want to talk about the entire supermarket,” he stressed.
Nogueras’ tone undoubtedly sought to convey Junts’ discomfort with the speech with which Sánchez had opened the debate, in which he referred to the amnesty in terms that are discordant with the independence speech. The leader of the PSOE uttered the word “sorry” on more than one occasion when referring to the criminal forgetfulness of the process.
In the afternoon, Sánchez insisted on showing the starting differences. “It would be politically hypocritical to deny that we have radically different visions, but there is something that unites us as a central element: the progress and stability of Catalonia,” he highlighted. Some television shots showed him focused and serious, holding the translation headset.
Sánchez spoke of negotiation, not dialogue. There was a desire to iron out rough edges. A few hours earlier, the secretary of organization of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, main negotiator with Junts, had quelled a hint of crisis, when Nogueras conveyed to him the “discontent” of the pro-independence formation with the tone of the candidate’s initial speech, in particular his story of the process and its references to the amnesty.
Hence, Sánchez made an effort to reassure the independence movement: “You have the commitment of the PSOE and my own to comply with the agreement we have reached,” he assured Nogueras. The president spoke of “political opportunity”, of “opening a new stage” and of the willingness of his political group to bet “on a sincere negotiation, despite the differences” that separate them from Junts.
“A historic opportunity is opening up that we have to take advantage of. “I am committed to moving forward to resolve this conflict,” he assured Nogueras.
The president tried to compromise with those who will be his partners in this legislature, but at the same time he made it clear that the socialists are not going to allow the independentists to assume the spokesperson for all Catalans: “The plurality of Catalan society forces us to assume a principle, that no one can patrimonialize the voice of Catalonia,” he warned.
