The “new political cycle in Catalonia” began with the regional elections of May 12, in which the socialists obtained the most votes and the separatists obtained “poor results.”
Catalonia begins this Tuesday the parliamentary process to invest the socialist Salvador Illa as president of the regional government and put an end to 14 years of pro-independence executives, in a new political cycle whose start could still be disrupted by the separatist Carles Puigdemont.
The “new political cycle in Catalonia” came after the regional elections of May 12, in which the socialists obtained more votes and the independentists obtained “poor results”as recognised by the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC, separatist).
The CEI”understanding the results” and assuming that it is not possible to have a new government in Catalonia led by independentists, since these formations have lost the absolute majority in the regional parliament, negotiated the viability of a left-wing executive with the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC, regional structure of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, PSOE).
The other major pro-independence party, or Together for Catalonia (JxCat, conservative), by former regional president Carles Puigdemont, He called for a repeat of the elections and denounced ERC for being willing to end the Catalan separatist front and allow a “Spanish” government for the region..
Puigdemontwho has been living in Belgium since 2017 to escape Spanish justice following the unilateral declaration of independence in 2017, which he led, He even accused ERC of being responsible for his arrest “in the coming days”when he returns to Spain to be present, as an elected deputy, at the inauguration session of the new regional government, as he promised during the campaign.
ERC and JxCat negotiated with the Socialists of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, an amnesty for Catalan separatists that, although already in force, has not yet been granted by the judges to Puigdemont, who remains the subject of an arrest warrant in Spanish territory.
If Puigdemont returns to Spain in the next few days, as promised, and if he is arrested, he will at least be able to postpone the investiture of the socialist Salvador Illa as president of the regional government (known as the Generalitat). Several parties have already said so, assuring that they will ask for the suspension of the session to consult the leadership and deliberate on the position.
To avoid a repeat election, the Catalan parliament has until August 26 to appoint a president of the Generalitat, in a process that formally begins on Tuesday.
Following last week’s agreement between the Socialists and ERC, the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull (of JxCat) is carrying out a round of contacts this Tuesday with the parties that elected deputies, with a view to scheduling Illa’s investiture session in Salvador.
The plenary session is expected to take place next Thursday or one of the following days.
Salvador Illa’s PSC won the most votes in the Catalan regional elections on May 12. JxCat came second and ERC, which currently leads the Catalan government, third.
The socialist, who was Spain’s health minister during the pandemic, needs 68 votes in favour to be elected president of the Generalitat in the first round, the exact number of deputies held by the PSC (42) and ERC (20) and Comuns (6), a party that is part of the left-wing Somar platform, which is in the Spanish government’s coalition with the PSOE.
The political situation in Catalonia has had and should continue to have a direct impact on the governance of Spain, since Sánchez’s executive depends on the parliamentary support of both ERC and JxCat.
Source: Observadora
