The slogan for ERC and Junts is to make the most of the opportunity offered by the parliamentary arithmetic of Congress. And there is nothing more attractive to independence than a referendum on self-determination. The negotiation, for the time being, will begin with noise: the Parliament of Catalonia yesterday validated the resolution agreed between Junts and Esquerra groups in which the support of pro-independence formations for the investiture of the socialist leader is conditioned on the fact that they "work" the framework and conditions for holding a referendum.
After the failed investiture of Alberto NúñezFeijóo there are two months left for a possible re-election of Pedro Sánchez. With the passage of time, it will be necessary to see if for independence the amnesty is a success valuable enough to stop tying the PSOE to the referendum. Yesterday's gesticulation in Parliament would be exposed.
The 65 votes in favor of ERC and Junts and the nine abstentions from the CUP allowed the text on the referendum to go ahead. The PSC, Vox, En Comú Podemos, Citizens and the PP opposed it. They added 54 votes against because the six deputies of Cs avoided voting for it as a sign of disagreement. The non-independence right described both the amnesty and the referendum as "unconstitutional".
The replica? “Amnesty and referendum. These are the conditions of the negotiation". These are the words of Marta Vilalta, spokeswoman for Esquerra, with which she makes it clear that thirteen is thirteen and dispels doubts. Mònica Sales, from Junts, celebrated the consensus with the republicans, but that did not prevent her from sending a poisoned arrow to the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès: "Move out of the starting box, president. There is a lot to do."
The need for an amnesty was also approved in the Catalan Chamber, this time thanks to the favorable votes of the three pro-independence groups and the commons. The PSC rejected this last initiative. His bet is that of "dialogue". In his opinion it is the "only way to end the division". But the socialists turned their noses up even more at the self-determination initiative, despite the fact that the text is vague. Neither ERC nor Junts specify what they mean by "work" and at no time is the referendum related to the word independence.
In any case, the PSC's no is firm. The statement he signed to sign with the PSOE on Thursday, just after the agreement between republicans and post-convergents was made public, already confirmed it. "Let's be clear. We will not take any steps in this way. It's a mistake. If it is necessary to go to elections again, we will go back", concluded Salvador Illa in the first hour in various media. Very clear. "Gesticulation cannot win work and fighting for the right can never be the best option", added shortly afterwards from the lectern of the Catalan Chamber the spokeswoman for the Catalan Socialists, Alícia Romero. "Prudence and discretion", he continued emphasizing the two words, aware that the game of Sánchez's investiture is being played in Madrid.
The commons swim between two waters. They support the amnesty, but consider that making Sánchez's investiture dependent on the conditions of a referendum being set endangers both the amnesty and the re-election. "It is irresponsible", warned Ernest Urtasun, spokesman for Sumar. The key is not to give "a second chance to a government of PP and Vox", added from the Parliament the spokesperson of the commons, David Cid. He demanded "level of vision" from ERC and Junts. Instead, he applauded the amnesty: "Catalan in Congress is a victory. Catalan in Europe will be a victory. And the amnesty will be a victory. That's how clear I say it."
For its part, the CUP, whose competition was necessary for the resolution on self-determination to go ahead, warned that "amnesty and self-determination are inseparable" and demanded that the amnesty also include people " reprisals for social, civil and political rights", so, according to Dolors Sabater, they should also benefit "retaliations for the mobilizations for the right to housing, anti-fascism and feminism".
