Page warns Sánchez against "privileges" to the independence movement: "The same right has one from Puertollano and one from Sant Boi"

The apparent closure of the socialist ranks after the scrutiny of 23-J -in which, despite demoscopic predictions, its initials grew in votes and seats in Congress- has lasted barely 10 days. “Autonomous financing is set by the Constitution, not by Emiliano García-Page or Isabel Díaz Ayuso. And the same right to be cured of a heart attack has both a citizen of Puertollano and one of Sant Boi de Llobregat”, they add.

This is how they respond to the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, as well as the leader of the ERC -one of the parties that Sánchez has to convince to support his investiture-, who on Tuesday warned that they are not going to “negotiate the interests of other territories “, but to “defend” their own. “We will not go hand in hand with Ayuso or García-Page to think of a global system for all communities, but we will work to ensure that the resources generated in Catalonia serve to finance public services and end the fiscal deficit “, he affirmed in a press conference in which he took stock of the political course.

As EL MUNDO announced on Monday, the PSC has formalized through a parliamentary amendment that supports a removal of the debt contracted by Catalonia with the State by the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA). Specifically, Salvador Illa's party – increasingly key and influential for the socialist leader – supports “the definition of a debt forgiveness coefficient that takes into account the spending needs of the Generalitat's fundamental public services.”

In an interview this Tuesday on TVE, the acting Minister of Finance and Public Function, María Jesús Montero, did not go into detail about this measure, but she did point out that one of the axes of the talks for the investiture will revolve around the reform of the current regional financing system, expired since 2014. “Not only is there talk of resources, there is also talk of the indebtedness of the autonomous communities and also of the fiscal effort. We are going to address it compulsorily throughout the legislature and it will have to be an agreement with everyone,” the PSOE deputy general secretary limited herself to pointing out..

On Monday, he had recognized the possibility that some pro-independence groups could raise this issue in the negotiation, although he saw it as “hasty” to talk about this scenario.. “Right now it is anticipating a debate that is not yet on the table,” he stressed, in statements collected by Europa Press.

Nor did Aragonès want to comment on a possible cancellation of the Generalitat's debt with the FLA, which exceeds 71,000 million euros: “The negotiations will progress slowly and many ideas will emerge, but I will not speak about aspects that are more part of speculation than of reality”. And he insisted: “Let whoever wants to be inaugurated [Sánchez] move first and then there will be counterproposals.”

For his part, the acting president of Aragon, the socialist Javier Lambán, does consider it “inevitable” that the new government of the country make reductions in the debts of the communities with the State, but he demanded that it be done with criteria that do not favor differences nor grievances between the territories. In this sense, he demanded that in the process “the responsibility or irresponsibility with which the communities have managed should not be left aside, because there is a certain verification that there has been unjustified waste,” reports Efe.

Price for the investiture

The reform of regional financing as a possible bargaining chip for an eventual re-election of Sánchez has been added to the demand for self-determination for Catalonia and amnesty for those convicted of the process that Junts has put on the table as a price for their votes. In this regard, Minister Montero warned on Tuesday that any issue on which progress can be made “is limited by the constitutional framework.”

In addition, the number two of the Socialists disavowed its potential partner for the revival of the coalition government, Sumar, for having tried to assume the leading role in the negotiation with the party of Carles Puigdemont, with the appointment of Jaume Asens, former leader of the common ones in Congress, as an interlocutor: “Whoever has the responsibility of articulating a majority is the main party that makes up that progressive bloc. I am referring to the PSOE, as is logical, which has increased both in the number of votes and seats, and, therefore, we will be in charge of being able to contact the different political groups and make all the arrangements, since we have already been trained for this legislature.”