“Now the real work begins.” It is the phrase that Jordi Turull uttered just as Francina Armengol proclaimed the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. The pact between Junts and the PSOE certifies that “a new stage” of negotiation is opening and, in ERC, the president Pere Aragonès walks around CNN and the BBC talking about the new phase of the process, that of achieving an agreed referendum . The process is dead, see the process. The pro-independence vote at the investiture was no longer in doubt when the socialist leader agreed to promote an amnesty law, but the words will be – “negotiation” and “no dialogue” and nothing about “forgiveness” – and compliance with the agreements will determine the future of the legislature, including the Catalan one.
The official barometer in Catalonia grants a wide advantage to the PSC before closing the pact with Junts, but the Catalan arithmetic looks as explosive as that of the Congress. The socialists today have a better relationship with Junts than with ERC in Parliament; however, the negotiation of the investiture includes the “good faith” negotiation of the general budgets and links them to those of the Generalitat, which gives air to the republicans. There is no doubt about the pact preferences of the PSC and the Junts pragmatists, but the sum falls short and they are incompatible with the commons. Then there is the position that the amnesty leaves in the socialist electorate: division. Only 49% approve of it, compared to 41% who reject it, which forces an extra effort from Salvador Ila and Sánchez himself. The Catalan socialist stronghold is what allowed him to continue in Moncloa after 23- J..
Junts negotiators assure that there has been no direct contact with Sánchez, with the exception of the photo of Míriam Nogueras in Congress. They never asked for it. Santos Cerdán is the sponsor of the PSOE pact and, now, the guarantor of compliance. How is it going? Together, he hopes to leave the first meeting of his private negotiation table with a working methodology and a calendar of topics to be addressed. The results, as with the investiture, will be made public only when there are agreements. In the meantime, discretion and silence are prescribed.
The know-how is consolidated. The General Affairs Council of the EU dispatched in a few minutes the discussion on the official status of Catalan in the European institutions, but no one at Junts showed nervousness. Neither extra gestures were claimed nor were there reproaches to the PSOE for the delay in the payment in advance. José Manuel Albares transfers daily information to Junts and the absence of high-profile statements protects his management from the maneuvers of the PP in Brussels. Also in another phase of the process are the relations between Junts and ERC. Nogueras didn’t just ignore Gabriel Rufián’s warning from the podium of Congress – “the PSOE will deceive them” -. “As if they didn’t exist”, is the post-convergent answer. Never before has an intervention by Junts – or CiU – kept so many deputies in their seats in disgrace and all in silence. like wednesday
In recent weeks, the relationship between the pro-independence leaders has been cold and it does not seem that the competition for the authorship of an amnesty law will remedy it. The text approved by ERC differs very little from the one drawn up by Junts. Nor will they approach due to electoral haste. The pro-independence majority has ceased to be an argument, because it is unworkable, according to the CEO. Without need, there is no virtue, Sánchez could say. Junts has returned to the political playing field just when their shares of institutional presence are below minimums. And Puigdemont? The most optimistic would like to see him in Catalonia in the European campaign… The amnesty law sets the application times but the “preferential and urgent” judicial process does not respond to the political times. Those who are waiting for amnesty now remember that the sentence of the Statute took four years to arrive. And started the process…
