Next Sunday, May 12, elections will be held in Catalonia to define what the Parliament will look like during the next legislature and according to the latest polls published yesterday, ERC has a slight disadvantage with Junts, which would be the second political force. In the attempt to snatch pro-independence votes from Puigdemont's supporters, Pere Aragonès, the president of the Generalitat and Republican candidate, has defended his party's negotiating strategy with the central government, ensuring that "the easy thing is to go behind, in the pack."
In an interview in Hoy por Hoy in La Ser, Aragonès stated that “the path of negotiation is the good one,” and defended that they have “opened paths with the negotiation that everyone now practices.” In the same sense, the president has defended the deal that he has maintained with Sánchez's Executive during his mandate, and has assessed that "whoever leads the way has more difficulties."
As was seen last night in the presidential debate in La Sexta, ERC and Junts seem increasingly irreconcilable in this campaign, and the Republican candidate criticized today that Junts does not have a clear proposal: “They were talking about confrontation and now they are negotiating, but we don't know what they will do,” he assured.
The survey published yesterday by the CIS showed a huge percentage of undecided people (39.7%), which is why the president of the Generalitat has asked for “prudence” before knowing the results. “If it were up to the polls, Feijóo would be president,” he added. Aragonès has assured that “many undecided people will end up voting for ERC” and has presented himself as “the only candidate who proposes making pacts based on proposals.”
The leader of the Catalan Executive recalled his three proposals that he repeated during the campaign: "resolve the problem with the State through a referendum, unique financing and strengthen the welfare State and the Catalan language."
Regarding Sánchez's decision to continue as head of the Government, Aragonès has stated that “it has been a political maneuver” and has criticized that “he has seen the dust.” “He has used empathy for personal political benefit and now no one talks about the Koldo case anymore,” he added.
Furthermore, the ERC candidate has assured that Sánchez's days of reflection have "created" an environment of "uncertainty in the legislature" which, according to Aragonès, does not benefit stability.
Finally, Aragonès commented that today the Government will consider the possibility of reducing restrictions due to the drought. “If we have the possibility, we should do it,” he concluded.
