Last Friday we wrote that Esquerra was about to make far-reaching decisions after the setback that its results in the municipal elections entailed. After the necessary reflections, the ERC leadership has seen clearly that the great opportunity to recover the lost vote is to take advantage of the showcase that directing the Government of the Generalitat supposes. The Catalan legislature has just crossed the equator and these first two years have been marked by the crisis between ERC and Junts, which caused their departure from the Generalitat, and by the difficult relations with the central government to obtain pardons for the pro-independence prisoners and later the reform of the Penal Code. There has been too much noise that has hindered the work of Pere Aragonès' team. Also the proximity of the municipal ones had seized the Republican leadership, fearful of making decisions that would be unpopular among their bases.
Now, apart from the 23-J elections, Esquerra has everything that remains of his legislature until February 2025 to try to convey the image that he can and knows how to govern. For this it was important to repair the things that had not gone as well as they should and to contribute experience to the Consell Executiu. And nothing better than to recover Anna Simó and Ester Capella, who already know what it is to be part of the Government. The change in Acció Climàtica is minor because the new minister, David Mascort, already had a very decisive weight in the department.
The Republicans should appreciate that it is true that they lost votes in the municipal elections but these did not go to their rivals. PSC, Junts, los comunes and the CUP also registered losses. The only way to recover the ascending line that Esquerra had in recent years is to try to govern well despite its parliamentary minority.
And that the citizen perceives that, beyond the objective, distant or not, of the long-awaited independence to which they say they aspire, there is a government that tries to solve the serious problems that Catalonia has and that in recent years seemed not to worry to nobody.
