Pere Aragonès received this Friday afternoon at the last minute the proposal of Junts per Catalunya to re-direct the crisis between the two partners, with three specific points and the demand that Jordi Puigneró be reinstated as vice-president of the Government.
In the document that JxCat sent yesterday to its partners late in the afternoon, coordination in Madrid is called for – jointly negotiating the general budgets of the State and agreeing on all the initiatives that affect the stability of the central government – and refocusing the dialogue table so that self-determination and amnesty are addressed with the delegation chosen by Junts. The articulation of a unitary space for the strategic direction of independence is also demanded, but the novelty is that JxCat once again places the Consell de la República, chaired by Carles Puigdemont from Belgium, at the center of this space. In addition, that space should be gathered next week, as La Vanguardia has learned.
Junts per Catalunya decided on Thursday to sit down with its partner until Sunday to try to redirect the crisis that began this week after Puigneró's dismissal. A crisis that had been simmering for weeks. The party was scheduled to deliver a proposal for negotiations this morning, according to the Republicans, but as of late this afternoon they have not heard from the postconvergents.
In the executive that was held yesterday, Thursday, throughout the day, the Solomonic path was chosen between those in favor of remaining in the Catalan Executive and the firm defenders of an immediate break with Esquerra. The midpoint, the formula that satisfied everyone and achieved unanimity, was to give themselves a period of three days to speak with the Republicans and then consult the militancy depending on how the negotiation goes. But to sit down and talk, prior work was required to agree on what was requested, and it has not been easy.
The demand for the reinstatement of Puigneró was discussed at the meeting that took place at the training headquarters yesterday without reaching any conclusion, and it was not planned, but it does appear in the document reissued to the Republicans.
In any case, the general secretary, Jordi Turull, has advocated a "face to face, paper in hand" negotiation and has avoided giving details of the status of the contacts with Pere Aragonès. "It has to be from the nobility and from the frankness, what I will not do is do it through the media", has pointed out the former minister of the Presidency, who could meet alone with the president throughout the day tomorrow, in which he plans to attend the unitary act convened by the entities in Arc de Triomf to commemorate the 2017 referendum. The leader of Junts has thus pronounced himself in a media attention in Lleida, where he attended a relative act to the fifth anniversary of 1-O and to the Fira Agrària de Sant Miquel with the councilor Violant Cervera and the local leader of the formation, Toni Postius.
Be that as it may, the last grain of the hourglass will fall on Sunday, until then there is time... and JxCat has expressed today in Parliament that its will is to fix things, in Albert Batet's response to Aragonès, who has bet for the continuity of the Government and demanded that his partner make a decision "quickly". Some postconvergent ministers, in favor of continuing in the Executive, have applauded his speech. "We are willing to fix things and put them where they should have been," Turull said, without giving further details.
Among the supporters of continuing in Palau, it is expected that there will be some ERC movement that will allow, in the consultation, to vote for continuity.
At the end of the JxCat executive meeting on Thursday, which lasted more than eight hours, there were those who breathed a sigh of relief. "In this company we have not lost money" ("En aquesta bugada no hem perdut cap llençol"), pointed out a member of the formation in reference to the fact that the decision adopted in that conclave was Solomonic and had been supported unanimously. Public dissension had been avoided, although it was known to all that there are opposing positions in the leadership.
Today, various sources consulted, both from the sector that wants to continue in the Government and from the one that wants to leave and go to the opposition immediately, admitted that depending on what happens next week there could be some internal rupture. To avoid this scenario, one of the options being considered was that the militancy had to ratify a decision instead of responding to a question. But until Monday the question that will be put to the affiliates will not be fixed so that they pronounce themselves on October 6 and 7.
In this regard, Turull has indicated that they have not decided if it will be one question or two and that the question will depend on what happens this weekend. “On Monday it will be decided if it is one question or two, the question has to be clear, we don't have to complicate our lives”, he said.
