The fear of a parliamentary deadlock preventing the formation of the new Government of the Generalitat hovered over the offices of the Catalan employers yesterday. The employers, through the organizations that represent them, demanded the rapid composition of the executive. They fear that a deadlock will result in a new electoral call that will extend the current government’s term of office until almost the end of the year. The budgets, which are currently extended, will start working from the summer.
“Catalonia needs a strong, solvent government with a clear project, capable of leading economic policy in Spain and projecting Catalonia on a global scale,” said Foment, chaired by Josep Sánchez Llibre, in a statement. “We need a government that makes life easier for companies and doesn’t get bogged down in outdated debates,” added the organization.
Foment declined to specify which debates he was referring to. The last governments of the Generalitat have been formed by pro-independence forces in which the identity debate played a predominant role. “From Foment we ask the elected deputies to take maximum responsibility to avoid a deadlock in Parliament. Neither the country nor the Catalans deserve it”, ruled the employer.
In a similar vein, Pimec demanded a new executive. The employers’ association chaired by Antoni Cañete asked “to set up as quickly as possible a stable and strong government that responds to the needs and challenges of the country”. Pimec also introduced the need to “open a stage of reflection on the low participation of citizens, with maximum respect for the will of the Catalans expressed at the polls”. Except for 2021, during the pandemic, Sunday’s turnout is the lowest (57.9%) in an autonomous election since 2006. Along the same lines, the Terrassa Cecot employer indicated that this low turnout is “untoc of alerts parties and institutions”. And he added that “citizens have already expressed themselves massively at the polls, now it’s up to the politicians to develop the commitments and programs”.
Pimec highlighted in a statement “the need for dialogue and consensus and the will to reach agreements, as well as the need to legislate with the smallest in mind first”. The employer demanded that the new executive “be ready to reach great consensus to overcome the challenges that cannot continue to be ignored, such as financing, improvement and the creation of infrastructure”. Both Pimec and the other employers’ organizations have sent the candidates economic proposals during the campaign. Pimec, for example, organized a debate with the candidates. Sources from Foment del Treball believe that one of the main tasks of the new Government of the Generalitat is to stop the “decrease” that the economy is suffering in certain areas.
The improvements that the government promotes must be based on “dialogue, consensus and the will to agree, respecting the sensitivity of civil society and social and economic representatives, and bearing in mind the weight of SMEs and the self-employed as an economic engine and element of cohesion that guarantees progress”.
The employers of TerrassaCecot called on all the parties of the parliamentary arch “political courage to carry out the major pending reforms”. Among these priorities, Cecot highlighted infrastructure, healthcare, education and public administration.
Xavier Panés, president of Cecot, said yesterday that “a time of pacts to govern is opening, and we hope that these pacts will return political and institutional stability to the country”.
