A panel of black letters on a yellow background headlined the appearance of Oriol Junqueras yesterday to explain the agreement signed between the PSOE and ERC. "Amnesty", a check; "Resolve the political conflict", another check; "Rodalies", another verification. It was prepared by the communication and design team of Esquerra a correcuita, at noon. The president of the party was satisfied with the pact, but now it needs to be fulfilled, and to do so Junqueras made the legislature and its stability dependent on the degree of compliance with what was sealed yesterday.
"As long as there is compliance with these agreements, it is easier for the legislature to have continuity", warned a Junqueras who keeps intact, as he said, his mistrust of the credibility of the PSOE when it comes to making the agreement effective. "Experience shows us that, both the PSOE and the different governments that have existed, do not fulfill their commitments many times", he remarked. So, for the republican, the guarantee of compliance is the "own need" of the PSOE. What is the need? Parliamentary stability. In the event that some of the agreements do not crystallize, the other party would have free hands to disagree with the global pact, argued the leader of Esquerra.
The compact document is very clear in this regard regarding the obligations of the Republicans. It is assured that the ERC deputies in Madrid, in return, will not only support the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, but that, if the stipulation is fulfilled, "they will give stability to the legislature through a negotiation of good faith".
Even more: they will have "the will to approve the main legislative milestones", especially with regard to the general budgets of the State or the recovery funds of the European Union. Also of the projects that the likely government of Pedro Sánchez may send to Congress and of the royal decrees.
Either way, the Republican party has been flaunting the deals this week as they close them. On Tuesday, the amnesty - Pere Aragonès boasted yesterday of having achieved "a new impossible" -; Thursday morning, Rodalies. The last one, that of the dialogue table. It will have continuity. PSOE and ERC recognize that, once de-judicialization is consolidated through the amnesty law, it will move to a phase in which "the political future of Catalonia" will be addressed.
But this time there is something new: Republicans and Socialists will designate a "person of recognized prestige" who will be in charge of "verifying and following up" the talks and the "agreements reached".
The text obviously mentions this figure as a speaker, intermediary or mediator, terms that have not been seen favorably in the socialist ranks. Junqueras also avoided them. In any case, this person of "recognized prestige", however, will not be present at the dialogue table between the Spanish and Catalan governments, but will be part of another parallel negotiation space, this time between the parties (PSOE and ERC).
This point tramples, in part, Junts' claim to establish an international mediator who will oversee the agreements that can be signed with the PSOE as part of the investiture.
In any case, Junqueras trusted yesterday that Junts will be added to the group of political formations that plan to support Pedro Sánchez so that he is re-elected as president of the central government. He asked for "maximum responsibility" from the party whose negotiations are led by Carles Puigdemont.
"We would like to think that all the political spaces will help this go well; we are convinced that many of the issues on which we have reached an agreement are good and everyone will commit and help", he expressed.
The agreement also foresees, among others, 150 million for research and another 1,600 million until 2030 to guarantee the deployment of the Mossos d'Esquadra.
Junqueras appeared once the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, finished explaining the agreement from the headquarters of the PSC in Barcelona. The socialist summarized the pact in three categories: Neighborhoods, more public resources for Catalonia and amnesty, although he avoided commenting on the last issue because the negotiation continues with Junts. However, it was not enough to say that "what should never come out of politics will return to politics".
For the Socialists, the agreement with ERC is another step for the investiture of Sánchez, pending the conclusion of the pact with Junts, and to give way to a "stable legislature, of progress and coexistence".
When all the agreements are concluded, Bolaños said, "a new political stage" will open after the "social and political fracture" experienced in Catalonia. "The worst of Catalonia's past could not condition the future of Catalonia and Spain", justified the Minister of the Presidency.
