They hadn't spoken since May 21, 2019. Oriol Junqueras looked to greet Pedro Sánchez, sitting in his seat, and told him: "We have to talk." With that photo, the President of the Central Government recognized him as an interlocutor before the ERC leader returned to prison. The two then exchanged some messages, but Sánchez preferred to speak with the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, due to his institutional position and a certain affinity of characters. Aragonès is direct and clings to concreteness. Like Sanchez. Even if the first is risk averse and the second is encouraged by challenges. Junqueras' character is more convoluted, less compatible with that of the socialist, although Wednesday's 38-minute conversation was pleasant, between signs of mutual understanding and some banter.
For ERC the call is a recognition of its relevance as a parliamentary ally when all the spotlights illuminate Junts. But five years of collaboration have passed to arrive at this extended talk, in which ERC has veered from defending the unilateral path to obvious pragmatism. Together they have not taken this route, precisely because the story of the "president in exile" prevents it. Moreover, Carles Puigdemont has criticized ERC's candidacy.
With the key to the governability of Spain in hand, the former president set out his conditions on September 5 in a speech that Moncloa wanted to look at with optimism, since he did not demand the independence referendum to give the investiture . The socialists saw there the starting point for negotiation. On the other hand, for Puigdemont, this is a guide that must be followed without skipping any steps until the agreement. And this is what the PSOE negotiators are checking.
For this reason, Junts spokeswoman Míriam Nogueras delivered that text to Sánchez on Friday. Let's remember Puigdemont's demands: for the investiture he demands his recognition as an interlocutor, amnesty and the mechanism for verifying the agreements. The first two are progressing, the third is a stumbling block, as Puigdemont asks for the international mediator and the PSOE offers a monitoring commission. And what are the pacts that need to be verified to be fulfilled during the legislature?
Puigdemont refers to two folders: one of material (investments, financing, skills...) and, the most important, the recognition of the political conflict and the commitment to resolve it with an "agreed referendum". ERC already requested something similar in its day and it was decided that the existence of the conflict was admitted and that if an agreed solution was reached, it would be voted on by the Catalans. For the socialists, this was nothing more than an eventual statutory reform. But Puigdemont goes further. To begin with, he claims to start from the admission that the sentence of the Statute, the "savage application of article 155" or the "criminalization" of the 1-O was a mistake. What's more, he asks that recognize the "legitimacy of the 1-O" and the commitment to work on an agreed referendum to replace it.
That is why the negotiation between the PSOE and Junts has become a Scottish shower. The Spanish political class is scandalized by the amnesty, but all the other things are just what Puigdemont needs to justify the agreement to his people. For him, the amnesty is not a "historic pact", which is what he has promised.
The fact that nobody opens their mouths in Junts does not mean that the internal tensions have disappeared. The pragmatists yearn for the pact, but the Octobrists, who maintain that independence was already won on October 1st and it just needs to be applied, wait until they know where Puigdemont will end up. These days, a platform called Junts per Junts is running through mobile messaging channels, which encourages people to join it. With no apparent leadership, it is driven from the environment of Laura Borràs, president of the party, marginalized from the negotiation by Puigdemont. Its objective is to have a database to know its internal strength. Meanwhile, Junts remains expectant to see if his leader is able to avoid the dreaded transition from hero to traitor.
