Two days after completing his first year as president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès has defined his own style, different from that of his predecessors. Without the popular charisma of Jordi Pujol or Pasqual Maragall, without the fiery epic of Carles Puigdemont or Quim Torra, Aragonès displays a calm, discreet and quite predictable attitude in the face of the storm that is raging on different fronts: crisis management, aggravated by the war; relations with Madrid, strained by the espionage of the CNI to pro-independence politicians –the president among them–, the difficult coexistence with Junts and the cohabitation in ERC with the emotional leadership of Oriol Junqueras. The surveys do not indicate for now that Aragonès raises passions in public opinion, but a leader is valued with different criteria.
How to measure leadership? Joan Botella, Professor of Political Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, proposes analyzing it in different scenarios. "Regarding the forces themselves, the ERC has been a turbulent party, there has always been a response to its leaders, and the current case is complicated by the ambiguous situation of Junqueras, there is a source of tension that is difficult to manage," he underlines. Regarding the leader's allies and his adversaries, he points out a paradox: “In theory Aragonès knows who are allies and adversaries, but in practice the roles are reversed. Junts is the coalition partner, but criticizes the management and approaches of ERC to the Spanish government, and even members of the government criticize the political direction of the president, for example Vice President Puigneró. At the same time, ERC has been decisive in supporting the government of Pedro Sánchez, but it has been denied in essential votes”.
Another important element in leadership is the management of expectations. ERC negotiated the government to have the presidency and set a new style, but this objective has not been met, says political scientist Oriol Bartomeus. “They tried to link the presidency of Aragonès to Companys and Macià, the new republican Generalitat, more powerful, more modern, more historic than the presidency of Torra, but they have found several elements that are preventing it: one is the personality of the president, which is not as powerful; second, his position in the party: he is not the undisputed leader of the ERC, there is Junqueras, who also has the epic of jail and is much better valued in the polls, which prevents Aragonès from deploying a strong presidency, and third, the partners, who have dedicated themselves, from Laura Borràs to the last minister, to trying to reduce the power, personality and power of the president”, underlines Bartomeus.
Putting the emphasis on management is the commitment of Aragonès. Vice President and Minister of Economy last legislature, the other Ministers went to ask him for money; he already knew the departments well when he arrived in Palau a year ago. But there is much to learn. In his environment they highlight that he is obsessed with doing things well, being useful, not rushing. To do this, he asks for a lot of information and listens, but he is critical, he debates. “He always says that he is the one who shows his face at the end, he is the one who calls, he is the one who negotiates,” they add.
He has previous experience, but he is a young president, this year he turns 40. And he has to show more maturity due to his youth, together with the ERC's desire to transmit an image of good governance and management, points out communication consultant Pau Canaleta. “He offers an austere, solvent image, to give security, seriousness, confidence. And he helps his character, he doesn't like to go off the deep end, he already feels comfortable in that role and it's better that he doesn't change because that doesn't work”, he points out.
The circumstances in which leadership is deployed are key, and in the case of Aragonès it is marked by the end of the procés and the crisis. “I think he has known how to read the moment. Catalan society wanted a bit of decompression, of tranquility, not to be with so many historical days and ups and downs, as in the years prior to 2017 and until 2019, which was all very intense and emotional”, he underlines.
The polls will tell if that profile works among ERC voters, but Canaleta points out that very stable leaders, who do not make noise, who think about finishing their mandate, have great electoral results. "We will see if this logic of providing certainty, of not generating instability, is rewarded," he adds.
Joan Botella points out that perhaps it is too early to make a balance and we will see, "but what is not shown in the first stage such as its own characteristics, orientation, style, it is difficult for it to appear later". Aragonès has three years of mandate ahead of him.
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