"Measure by measure, and project by project". With a philosophy similar to that championed by 'Cholo' Simeone in football –saving the many distances that separate them– it is how the president of the Generalitat intends to advance in the remainder of the Catalan legislature.
Pere Aragonès only has 33 deputies out of the 135 who sit in the hemicycle and this Wednesday, when giving explanations in the Parliament of the new composition and restructuring of the Government after the abrupt departure of Junts per Catalunya, he has called on the rest of the formations to they are not "inhibited" when it comes to reaching agreements, necessary so that the legislative package of the Catalan Executive can move forward. "Reaching agreements is the best option, and it is imperative if we think of citizens", Aragonès summarized.
In his appearance, in which he has assured several times that he did not want his partner to leave the coalition – "it hurts me and I feel bad that we are not continuing to work together" – and has thanked the already former ministers of JxCat for their work, the president He has demanded that "immobility and the temptations of blocking and castling" be "abandoned", a message addressed to opposition groups and especially to Junts. "That everyone joins to move the country forward and reach agreements and understandings," he added. Thus, his will is to agree with those with whom he shares sensitivity in the social sphere and in relation to the national question.
Aragonès has highlighted that he believes that "there are majorities" to approve a social shield, to "join efforts and put an end to repression", to make it possible to exercise the right to decide in a referendum or to approve ecological and feminist policies. "The majorities are there and the measures will be approved if we put the interests of the country ahead of those of the party. It is a matter of political will and courage", reiterated the head of the Catalan Executive, who has promised that he will devote "all efforts to build agreements.
The Government should approve the budgets of the Generalitat for 2023 in the coming weeks and the president has once again pressured his former partner to endorse the Catalan accounts, in which there are no "substantial changes", as he has repeated. "Going to the opposition is not motivated by differences in the budget. If we serve the interests of the citizenry and leave aside the interests of the new locations and the new roles, we can reach an agreement to approve the budget," he asserted. "I will not stop insisting, I will be very heavy", Aragonès later stated in his reply to the groups.
In his speech, the also national coordinator of Esquerra has delved into the wound of those who in Junts did not want to break the coalition. "I do not share Junts' decision to abandon the responsibilities of the Government with a half-hearted job and at a time of difficulty. Citizens are more useful from the Government than from the opposition, transforming, governing and making things happen" , Aragonès highlighted, wielding one of the arguments defended by those who advocated the continuity of the Executive. "Better that than a comfortable opposition of little use to the citizens," added the president.
In response time, the leader of the opposition and first secretary of the PSC, Salvador Illa, has told the president that he does not understand why he is seeking the support of his former partners and has reached out to him this week to agree on budgets for the Generalitat and that may enter into force on January 1, as is mandatory. However, Aragonès has questioned Illa's calendar and has once again insisted on the replicas to his partners.
The leader of the PSC has also expressed his discomfort at the latest crisis of the Mossos d'Esquadra. Regarding that folder, he has asked that there be no more "political interference" and that the minister has nothing to say about promotions. "A little modesty, it is done on merit", Illa has sentenced.
On behalf of Junts, the president of the parliamentary group, Albert Batet, has snapped at the head of the Government that he is alone. "The reality is that you are alone. You have chosen to be alone, you had other options, some very simple, such as complying with the agreements that allowed your investiture," said the post-convergence deputy, who added that "the person most responsible for breaking a coalition is the president." "You did nothing to keep her", Batet has made him ugly.
In addition to reproaching Aragonès for the noise of this first week, that he has not taken advantage of it to dismiss Minister Teresa Jordà or Minister Josep Gonzàlez-Cambray or the crisis of the Generalitat police, Batet has underlined that "today" Republicans have been unable to present any agreement with any group. "Make decisions and do not put the responsibility on others, we have not heard any self-criticism from you. Seriousness and criteria of reality", asked Batet, who like Illa, has highlighted that he is the Catalan Executive with the "weakest" parliamentary support and "insignificant" of history.
From JxCat they have also blamed Aragonès that when presenting the orientation of the new Government he has not spoken of "completing independence", as he said in his investiture speech. "If he wants agreements with us, he already knows which path he should take and recover," Batet said later.
The CUP deputy, Xavier Pellicer, has once again asked Aragonès for a question of trust and has lamented that with the composition of the new Government, with former convergents, ex-Commons and ex-Socialists, it is clear what the political orientation of the Executive will be.
The leader of the commons in the Parlament, Jéssica Albiach, has referred to today's session as the "third investiture debate" of Aragonès. "He is lucky that today there is no vote, because he arrives with only 33 deputies, he speaks of 80% and only has an absolute minority and 21%", stressed the deputy, who has also asked for the head of Gonzàlez-Cambray.
In addition, Albiach has made Illa ugly by saying that between the ERC and the PSC they can agree on the budgets, since they do not reach an absolute majority with 66 deputies. He has also reproached the Republicans for not seeing changes in his project after the departure of Junts from the Government.
