Oriol Junqueras (Barcelona, ??1969) considers that, apart from the Amnesty law, which the Justice Commission approved this week, and which means overcoming the phase of judicial persecution, it is time “to look to the future” to solve the urgent problems of farmers, drought, workers, families…
Has Junts endangered the amnesty?
The most important thing is that the amnesty is applied. We have to overcome the phase of judicial persecution against the will of Catalan society. We are facing a law that is not the end point of politics, but rather it is the beginning point of politics. In any case, it is the end point of the judicial persecution against politics and the beginning of how politics restores the justice that some Spanish courts have ruined.
With the amnesty about to be approved, is the process over?
Nothing ends that the people of Catalonia want. Catalan society, in large part, wants plenitude in economic, social and political terms and the future of Catalonia will nowhere be better than in the vote that Catalans cast in a self-determination referendum.
What role do you expect the judicial leadership to play now?
There will be a part of the Spanish justice system that will continue inventing a crime of rebellion that did not exist, inventing a crime of sedition that did not exist either, condemning a series of people to go into exile. They have had no problem twisting the interpretation of the law and will try to continue doing so.
What difference is there between the law rejected on January 30 and the one approved last Thursday?
The main difference is that we have lost a couple of months.
What do you think that Carles Puigdemont talks about starting a new stage now, focusing efforts on independence?
We proposed the amnesty more than four years ago. We are very proud to have done it, often alone. And we are proud that so many other parties have ended up assuming as their own this agenda that was and is ours. We are very happy that, for example, Salvador Illa, who said “no amnesty, nor anything like that,” now sees how his colleagues in Congress vote for what he said would never happen. Therefore, we are very happy that there are many people who agree with us.
Are they also Junts?
The PSOE, Junts and many others, yes, yes. I insist that we feel very proud of having contributed to bringing justice where there was injustice and that those who did not want it now want to attribute it to us. It doesn’t bother us at all, on the contrary.
Would you work together with Junts to create more opposition to the Spanish Government?
Yes. In fact, we have always defended the broad path, the more there are, the better.
Should the way be the understanding that ERC and Junts have shown this week to move forward with the amnesty?
We understand each other, otherwise we would not have agreed, not only in this last vote, but also in the previous vote in the Justice commission. We vote the same 85% of the time in Congress and, probably more than 90%, in the European Parliament.
They agree with Junts, a party that they have accused of maintaining postulates similar to those of the extreme right…
We want to coincide with many people in the defense of the country, companies, schools, families… We are happy to agree in some aspects with Junts, with the commons, with the CUP and with the PSC. It is evident that there are aspects on which we do not agree. For example, if someone says “repeat offenders must be expelled because they are foreigners…”, we are not concerned that they are foreigners. We are concerned about multiple recidivism because the problem is crime…
Are Marta Rovira and Carles Puigdemont closer to returning?
We have worked to ensure that this return occurs as soon as possible, but we know that there is a part of the judicial system that will do everything possible to delay it.
The commons say that they will not facilitate the budgets if the Hard Rock PDU is not overturned.
A PDU is not voted on. The PDUs are not voted on, they are an administrative procedure. What is voted on are more resources for schools, for teachers and students, for families, public works and whether there are more resources for the productive fabric. Everyone should vote for these budgets because everyone should want more resources to fight the drought, to help farmers, universities and hospitals.
What do you think of Hard Rock?
Gambling is not an economic model that we want to promote, we are committed to the reindustrialization of the country. The project was launched when we were not in government and there was an economic crisis. Already in the government we resized it and went from six macro casinos to a single, not very large one. Now, the context is different. But the procedures must continue and what will define whether it is sustainable or not are the environmental reports. But I insist, our priority and our project is an economy of an industrial nature and an economy that provides continuity to our primary sector and also to Camp de Tarragona. Our model is industrialization, to have a record of exports, a historical record of foreign investment, a record of employment, a record of female employment rate. This model works and is what we represent and want to represent because the Catalan economy grows faster than the German economy, and inflation in Catalonia is below that of Germany.
Can budgets be approved with Junts?
They can be approved with Junts, the CUP, commons, with the PSC and with the unions and employers and with the third sector table and with the universities. It is worrying that those who say they want to represent society vote against what society asks, which is to vote in favor.
But the common ones are the ones closest to them. Will there be a call to Yolanda Díaz?
There is no need to say whether we have called this specific person or that other person from further away. It does nothing to help them be approved and what we want is for them to be approved. We are not here in a competition to see if we have called more people.
If there are no Catalan budgets, are there no State budgets? They are connected?
Like everything in life, everything is linked and nothing is linked. But if you ask if they are linked in the sense that we want everything to go well, the answer is yes. We want there to be good proposals that can be voted on and we are convinced that the Catalan budgets are good.
We are waiting for a proposal for “singular financing” from President Aragonès. As will be?
Citizens deserve to have the same provision per capita and that does not happen in Catalonia, the Valencian Community or the Balearic Islands. The amount each person receives is much lower than the State average. We all have to fight to receive the income we have to improve the railway network, finish line 9 of the metro to execute the connection from Plaza España to Gràcia of the Generalitat railways. To consider a railway that connects Cervera with Martorell, passing through Igualada to give an example. This should be our commitment, we need those resources.
The opposition accuses the Government of immobilism, for example in renewable energies. Do you perceive it that way?
Look in renewable energy we have gone from a 3 megawatt installation to one of 3,000 in two years, and we will reach 5,000. To those who accuse us of immobilism, I ask what adjective we should use for those who in ten years did nothing in renewables.
Expand, transform or modernize El Prat?
Improve it.
You have not used any of the proposed words. And some are from the Government…
The Government and Aena must comply with what they promised to do, which is the satellite terminal and stop looking for excuses. Let them do what they have to do in terms of governance. It would be nice to have connections with Japan and Los Angeles, no doubt, but now all these big planes can land in El Prat. What we can gain is important, yes, but so are other challenges we have as a country, such as the saturation of the railway network. It would be nice if those who care about air connectivity also did so for the people who use the railways in this country. Therefore, they should stop discriminating against El Prat, they should be transparent, they should publish data on the income it generates and how much of this is reinvested in Catalan airports. El Prat airport already has a runway that is longer than the runway they supposedly want to lengthen. Therefore, perhaps we have to consider how to use this clue that already exists. It could also explain why it is not working on improving the railway connections between the airports of Barcelona, ??Girona and Reus.
Is the Government late with the measures against the drought?
This drought lasts more than twice as long as the last major drought this country suffered. And yet, the restriction measures have been delayed until now. It means that many things have been done, otherwise we would have gone into restriction a year and a half ago. Certainly more things have to be done and to do them we need more resources that we do not have. They are denied to us and we return to the question of financing and that the income that the citizens of Catalonia receive in fiscal terms is very internal to what they contribute. And more things have to be done, such as improving our ability to reuse water. In Catalonia there is a lot of knowledge and a lot of technology in aspects of water management. We are a leading country and we have to value it.
It seems that until the farmers have gone out into the streets they have not been paid attention. A year ago the Parliament urged the Government to debureaucratize the procedures.
The farmers are right to be worried. 30 years ago 7% of the active population of this country was from the agricultural world and now it is a little above 1%. It is a drastic reduction in the weight of agriculture and livestock in our economy, active population and in society. Therefore, the cry for help and indignation is perfectly understandable. It is a trend that happens throughout the Western world, but that does not mean that we should not correct it. I am proud, for example, that ERC has always voted in the European Parliament against those trade agreements in third countries that harmed our farmers and we have often done so alone. We have tried to defend farmers from the unfair competition that products made in other parts of the world can enter our markets without meeting the social, environmental or health conditions that they are obliged to meet. We do not want unfair competition. In addition, there is an excess of bureaucratization, which partly originates in Brussels, but also from the Government. Our farmers cannot be administrative. But it is not only that, we must also accompany them in the fight against the lack of water and the Government is the only one that has provided aid against the drought. It can be discussed whether this aid is sufficient or more is necessary, but we are the only ones to have granted it.
They have even changed the name of the department
Yes, and I think it is very good that the departments have names as long as necessary so that everyone feels welcome. If that is important for the agricultural world, it is also important for me.
Would the Government agree with the PSC after the Catalan elections?
We want to win the elections and govern alone, as in this legislature. Our goal is an absolute majority. We do not want to depend on parties that put obstacles in the way of budgets, singular financing or a referendum.
