The election of the President of the Parliament is crucial for the future of the legislature and the birth of the new Government of the Generalitat. It is the second authority in Catalonia, which elects the candidate for the investiture based on his options for success. Therefore, the political color of the president of the Catalan Chamber is relevant, and his election will expose the existing alliances for the investiture and governability because they are usually reached having previously forged a few pacts.
In democratic history, the presidency of the Parliament has always served as a counterpart in agreements for governability, with one exception, that of the socialist Joan Raventós in 1980, who assumed the presidency of the Parliament despite the fact that Jordi Pujol was the one invested with an agreement with ERC and Centristes de Catalunya-UCD.
Thus, in the last legislature Junts and ERC joined forces to elect Laura Borràs president of Parliament even without having concluded an investiture agreement, but Borràs appointed candidate Pere Aragonès even though Illa, who had won the elections, had expressed his will to obtain the confidence of the House. The agreement between pro-independence parties was later confirmed.
On June 10, after all, the new Parliament must be constituted, one day after the European elections, and by then the pacts should be ready. On that day, the president of the institution and the members of the Board, the governing body of the
Two candidates have expressed their desire to submit to the investiture, Salvador Illa and Carles Puigdemont, but the absence of post-electoral pacts defined so far plunges the election into uncertainty.
To settle the balance, the parties have before them a preliminary negotiation in which the election of the President of the Parliament and the composition of the Bureau that regulates the Chamber is key.
The PSC and Junts are ready to retain the second authority of Catalonia. For the former, it serves as a negotiating letter to try to invest in Illa, and also for the latter, who accept the pact with ERC that would allow PSC to be relegated.
The socialists are betting on a left-wing agreement with ERC and the commons that would add 68 deputies, the strict ones to invest Illa, while the post-convergents want to attract ERC and the CUP to an understanding that would be short (59 seats) but which, with the anti-capitalists or without, would add up to more than the 48 of the PSC and commons.
The election of the President of the Parliament is carried out with an anti-blocking system. In the first round, an absolute majority is required – 68 votes – and if no one gets it, a simple majority is enough in the second round. In the event of a tie, the candidate from the group with the most deputies is appointed.
The members of the Board (two vice-presidents and four secretaries) will then be appointed. Its function is important: to control the debates and process the legislative initiatives, something that was decisive in the years of the process.
