Until the irruption of Pep Guardiola on the balcony of the Palau de la Generalitat, no one, or practically no one, said zigzag. Zig-zag, if at all. The refloated expression is now used by the head of communication of the president of the Generalitat on the set to warn the ten participants of Pregunta al presidente that they will have to take turns to speak in an orderly manner: first one of the five sitting in a band, then one of the five of the other. And so consecutively tracing zeta.
The one of the now football coach was the second most daring of the statements made on that balcony, although it had zero success and effect. As much as he can have a DUI declared fifteen times.
Anyway, the ten participants get a first taste of the wooden seats before the recording. They will be the ones to launch a new format of interaction between the president of the Generalitat and the public. The first Question to the President is recorded at the Espai Bital de l’Hospitalet de Llobregat and will be broadcast today at 7 p.m. on govern.cat and all the networks of the Government of the Generalitat and its leader. The intention is to hold a debate every quarter with different groups and in different places and broadcast them.
This time those who address Pere Aragonès are young people chosen by some of the youth organizations with which he has recently met. The zigzag, along with the fact that they are careful to make faces even if they are out of plan, is one of the very few instructions they receive. The participants come without the president or his team knowing what they will ask. Only the blog: if social, if economic, if cultural.
The Government has also not chosen the names of those who take part.made by students from Pompeu Fabra University, Pimec Joves and the gypsy collective of Catalonia had a free hand to select, although they were asked not to speak in name of the entities.
“I have a kilometer question…”, warns one of the participants. He is 29 years old. It is the largest of those that have been animated there. The youngest is 21. Doubts appear before starting: “Will anything happen if I miss a treatment from you?”. “If it comes out of you, it comes out of you; if it comes out of you, it comes out of you”, they emphasize from the president’s team, bringing relevance to it. On the set, already recording, what will appear are some “oysters”. Sin of youth
During the recording time, the Government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, accompanies the president. The format is inspired, among others, by the Bürgerdialog (civil dialogues) that Angela Merkel hosted in Germany, or the Kanzler Gespräch (Conversation of the Chancellor) by Olaf Scholz. In Catalonia, the last person to make a similar option work was Carles Puigdemont, in January 2017.
Aragonès stands near a stool that he will never use. Nor does he walk around the set and exploit all the space on the dance floor. The head of government holds a microphone that limits him to express himself with his hands. These are aspects that would have helped even more to create a climate of dialogue.
But the atmosphere is relaxed and Aragonès makes up for it by not shying away from the issues. Not even that of the one who asks him to know if he has received pressure from any company or important group in any of the decisions.
“Has there ever been a moment when you forgot about the spotlight?”, asks the president now that the recording is over. “No!”. The answer is unanimous. In any case, they recognize comfort in conversations.
