First major turn in the complex negotiations over the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, which so far seemed to be progressing discreetly and without serious setbacks. Given the resolution agreed in Parliament by Junts and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) in which they propose that there will be no investiture if Sánchez does not commit to “working to ensure that the conditions for holding the referendum take effect “, and in the full debate by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the PSOE and the PSC released a statement late on Thursday evening to send a strong warning to ERC and Junts and to make it clear that the Socialists will never negotiate a referendum on self-determination become. “Dialogue must serve to overcome the division and not to deepen the rupture and discord that have created so much tension in a sterile way in Catalonia and the rest of Spain.” No progress is possible on this path. The path is one of coexistence and cohesion, of understanding and of economic and social progress of Catalonia and the rest of Spain, always within the framework of the Constitution,” propose the Socialists.
Although the word amnesty is not mentioned in the statement, from the text, from the positions of the last few days and from the conversations with various socialist sources, the message can be interpreted very clearly: the negotiations are about amnesty, to which the PSOE is ready It is going ahead, but if the referendum comes back on the table it will reach a deadlock and there is a risk of a repeat election. Socialist sources point out that the statement sends a clear message: the self-determination referendum, unlike the amnesty, is neither negotiable nor possible.
The Socialists were convinced by the public and private statements of independents, including Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras, in recent weeks that the referendum would not hinder negotiations. According to sources from both the PSOE and Sumar and the independents, the talks were progressing well and there was no sign of a setback. But the resolution agreed by ERC and Junts in Parliament received a great response in La Moncloa, Ferraz Street (PSOE headquarters) and Sumar, which also reacted critically. The House of Commons has made it clear that it will reject the call for a referendum from ERC and Junts in Parliament: “We do not negotiate with red lines,” they have stressed.
Despite this apparent tension, sources from both the Socialists and the Independents indicate that this is not a plan or a break in negotiations, which will continue discreetly. It is more of a warning that the PSOE and the PSC, supported in this by Sumar, are not prepared to assume that the independents will raise the tone due to a dispute between them and return to a debate like that of the 2017 self-determination referendum . In any case, no one thinks the negotiations are dead, and everyone hopes that they can be redirected if some boundaries become clear that were actually already clear in private discussions but have now been made public.
The PSOE wanted to immediately end speculation about the possibility that they might accept a referendum to impose investiture. Yes, they are ready to do so as regards the amnesty and other economic issues that are being negotiated, but not the referendum, which they consider constitutionally unfeasible and, above all, politically undesirable, because the PSOE proposes to vote for an agreement if It is achieved like the reform of the statute, but does not oblige society to vote on a division.
Despite the stir that the proposal has caused due to the gesture it represents in the middle of the negotiations, this Friday, when it is voted on in Parliament, it does not even have the votes to move forward, since the CUP does not support it. The PSOE trusts that the two pro-independence parties understand that the machine cannot be coerced so much when negotiating something as delicate as an amnesty.
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Meanwhile, independents privately emphasize that they cannot forego a referendum, which forms the basis of their political project. The PSOE trusts that the will of Catalan society towards a progressive government that stops the alternative of PP and Vox will serve as an incentive for the negotiations to return to the conditions under which they took place. “Catalan society in particular and Spanish society as a whole have largely supported a progressive government that continues the path of dialogue, agreements and harmony begun four years ago, not by looking at the worst past, but by “Continue to build a better future together,” concludes the statement from the PSOE and the PSC.
One of the big uncertainties of the debate in the Catalan chamber was whether they would be able to agree on the resolutions on amnesty and self-determination after days of hostilities between the former government partners. Both ERC and Junts each presented their own and spent the day trying to achieve a transaction that took place in the extreme. The new text, which will be put to the vote tomorrow, requires Parliament to “affirm the exercise of the right to self-determination in defense” and “speak in favor of the political forces of Catalonia represented in the Cortes”. Support for an investiture by a future government that does not commit to working to make the conditions for holding a referendum effective.”
Key voices for investiture
The votes of Junts and ERC are crucial for the successful inauguration of Sánchez. Since the elections of 23-J, Socialists and Sumar have shown their willingness to meet the demand for an amnesty for those accused of procés, the other exit condition of the independence parties, but they have summarily rejected the demand for an independence referendum.
ERC and Junts do not clarify whether the condition they placed on Sánchez to invest him would still apply if Parliament does not give it the green light tomorrow, but it is a clear declaration of intent from the start. Last Tuesday, it was the President himself, Pere Aragonès, who, in the first session of the debate in the Catalan Parliament, put on the table the demand that this legislative period “determine the conditions for an independence referendum” and he gave the demand The consent for amnesty is taken for granted. The statements did not go down well with Junts, whose parliamentary leader, Albert Batet, disgraced the Republican who spoke on their behalf. Now, however, they both come up with the idea of putting the almost impossible demand on Sánchez’s wish list.
The Independentists’ attempt to force a referendum negotiation has been on the agenda on previous occasions, particularly when the dialogue between the government and the Generalitat was launched. Both parties have, in a sense, cornered and postponed the debate in order to be able to continue talking. Carles Puigdemont himself, the former president and leader of the Junts who fled in Belgium, had already referred to self-determination when announcing his conditions for this investiture, but without pursuing maximalist approaches or making it a short-term demand.
As far as amnesty is concerned, the negotiated text will receive the support of the CUP and appeals to “the need for an amnesty law to repeal what is classified as a criminal or administrative offense, in relation to defense in the exercise of the right to self-defense. “Catalonia’s determination and urges the Government of the Generalitat and the Catalan institutions to join the joint efforts for the adoption of this law and to proactively monitor its application immediately after its adoption.” The PSC, for its part, has ruled out agreeing a text on the amnesty as this is neither the right time nor the right place for such a debate and urges further negotiations.
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