Turull rules out an instrumental motion of censure to force elections

The general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, has closed the door on supporting an instrumental motion of censure to call elections in Catalonia.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
17 November 2022 Thursday 04:32
7 Reads
Turull rules out an instrumental motion of censure to force elections

The general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, has closed the door on supporting an instrumental motion of censure to call elections in Catalonia. The ex-minister believes that they cannot agree on parliamentary proposals of this caliber with non-sovereignty forces and prioritizes the will of the independence movement to unite. In statements to RAC1, Turull has thus contradicted Junts deputy Joan Canadell, who a few weeks ago stated that a PSC motion had to be "supported" if the ultimate goal was to go to elections.

“I am not a supporter”, Turull has reiterated. He has insisted, yes, that Esquerra only has 33 deputies in Parliament and that he has to make efforts to question them. "The Government must arrive by consensus from home" before all the votes, he said, to also avoid situations such as Tuesday's, in which the board of spokespersons refused to include the validation of the decree-law on investment on the agenda of the next plenary session in health

Regarding budgets, Turull has advanced that a technical meeting between the Government and Junts will be held tomorrow to specify details. On behalf of the Junts delegation, the deputies Mònica Sales, Jordi Munell, Joan Canadell and former number 2 of Jaume Giró in the Department of Economy, Jordi Cabrafiga, will attend. The Junts leader has been cautious about his intentions, because first "we want to see what budgets they are", in which he foresees changes with respect to those of Giró after the movements of powers between departments. Turull has pointed out that some of the flanks on which they want to leave their mark are fiscal policy -without tax increases-, access to housing or measures to avoid the closure of companies due to the price of energy.

Internally, Jordi Turull continues to make an effort to calm the waters. Once again, he has closed the case of deputy Francesc de Dalmases - "we do not want to prolong the issue" - which was settled with his resignation as vice president of the party. He has openly acknowledged that there were deputies (and, at the same time, members of the Junts executive) who expressed complaints about Dalmases, but he has insisted that "they also consider the case closed."

"There is no risk of a split" in Junts, the ex-minister has assured, despite the fact that just before the internal consultation the deputy Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas did not rule it out in case the option to continue in the Government was imposed. Turull has denounced that externally "there are interests" in breaking the formation, unlike, according to him, what happens behind closed doors, where there is "cohesion". He also wanted to highlight that those who defended the yes in the consultation are having "an active role" within Junts. There is also good harmony, said the general secretary, with the president of the party, Laura Borràs. "We do not see everything the same but we ended up agreeing," she stressed.

For Turull, the party "is getting more and more organized", and he is confident that his time in the opposition will allow them to become even more cohesive without having to assume major contradictions. "We can be ourselves, without the easements and mortgages that being in a coalition implies," he has defended.

One of the next appointments for the party, in which Turull has said that he is concentrating his efforts, will be the municipal elections. In the case of Barcelona, ​​it has not yet been confirmed if Xavier Trias will be the candidate. The general secretary did not want to reveal whether the former mayor will take the step, but he has assured that there is "enthusiasm" for his return, both within Junts and among people who are not part of the party.

Regarding the repeal of the crime of sedition, which ERC and Junts have faced again this last week, Jordi Turull has reiterated that they will present an amendment to the entirety with an alternative text in which the explanatory statement is based on rulings from European courts. The Junts leader criticizes that the bill, presented by PSOE and UP and with the support of ERC, "is full of subjectivities" that leave a wide margin of interpretation to judges. "They take sedition out the door and they put it through the window with another type of crime," Turull criticized, adding that they only conceive of a repeal, but not a substitution by other articles of the Penal Code.