The agreement between the PSOE and Junts offers “a historic opportunity” to resolve a conflict that “only through politics can and should be resolved,” Ferraz's organizational secretary, Santos Cerdán, stated yesterday in Brussels regarding the document that defines the channels of their future collaboration with the post-convergents in the new legislature. Because this, he emphasized, is not an agreement only for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez but a legislative pact: “We have talked about stability for the four-year legislature.”
The agreement “comes at a key moment for the country.” Despite the “deep disagreements” that are logical between two very different parties, “we will be able to achieve meeting points for the well-being of citizens and the solution of problems,” stressed Cerdán, who recalled that six years have passed since the independence referendum that the Constitutional Court declared illegal, and “the underlying conflict in Catalonia remains unresolved.” This “is the way to do it, with generosity and high-mindedness.”
The text of the amnesty law was not revealed, but “it will cover the people who have been related to the process from its beginnings until last night, when we closed the agreement,” said Cerdán. And he pointed out that it will cover events “directly or indirectly related” to the independence process between 2012 – when the Parliament endorsed the call for the 2014 consultation – and 2023. “From there, it will be the judges who will analyze each case and every personal situation,” he alleged.
PSOE and Junts committed to “talk and negotiate”, so that “in the next legislature, conditions of stability are created” that offer Catalan society and the rest of Spaniards “a new horizon” in which differences are resolved. in the framework of politics,” defended the socialist negotiator. The agreement establishes a “work methodology” for the next four years through the formation of thematic “work tables” to channel the discussions that will be opened to comply with the commitments derived from the pact, Cerdán explained in the appearance, in which Vox sympathizers tried to infiltrate, without success, posing as journalists.
The number three of the PSOE appeared after meeting with the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, to sign his signatures on the political agreement, which was only possible after agreeing on the terms of an amnesty law that, once examined by the rest of the the groups, will be registered in Congress. The signing of the pact took place in the privacy of the Sofitel hotel in the European neighborhood of Brussels, where the socialist negotiator settled last Sunday to give the final push to the talks, with no witnesses other than the representatives of both parties. From this luxurious establishment – where personalities such as Christine Lagarde, Mario Monti and Pascale Donohoe paraded these days –, PSOE and Junts remained in constant communication and exchanged documents in a climate of tension, marked by external events such as the decision of the Court National to accuse Puigdemont and Marta Rovira for the Tsunami case, but also for the more choreographic problems derived from Junts' need to stage that theirs was a different negotiation than the one that the PSOE had with ERC.
Once the agreement with Junts has been sealed, in any case, Pedro Sánchez is now accelerating towards his re-election, while the PSOE negotiating team continues its contacts to finish articulating a new investiture and legislative majority.
With the formation of Puigdemont, Sánchez already gathered 173 votes yesterday in favor of his investiture, a figure that for now exceeds the 171 seats that the right-wing no bloc has. The main support yet to be finalized is the PNV. Cerdán himself trusted yesterday in an imminent agreement: "I am sure that if it is not closed, it will be about to be closed."
Socialist leaders do not see any major difficulties in sealing the pact with the PNV, “for their own electoral good in Euskadi.” And they consider that this agreement could even be signed today, or during this weekend.
The PSOE also maintains the negotiation to achieve the support of the Canarian Coalition. With all of them, Sánchez's investiture could have the endorsement of 179 votes.
The amnesty law proposal is pending registration in Congress, which the PSOE wants to have the signature of all the groups of the investiture bloc, for which contacts were already established yesterday, after the agreement with Junts. And it would only remain after the president of Congress, Francina Armengol, announces the date of the investiture debate for next week. Pending confirmation, the PSOE already indicates November 15 and 16 on the calendar.
