The advice that prescribes prudence with what is dreamed of may be applied to ERC, lest it end up being fulfilled. They dreamed of the presidency of the Generalitat, of governing alone in Catalonia, of surpassing those of Carles Puigdemont in all the elections, of becoming the sovereignist party that would condition the governability of Spain and of ending up being the new champions of sovereignist centrality.
Accomplished dreams. Less the latter, to occupy without discussion the central axis of political sovereignty. And it is that ERC is balling the objective of being the Convergence of the 21st century. does not take off. In the sovereignist axis, he cannot leave JxCAT behind, which, even with the party made of foxes, a president convicted of corruption and Carles Puigdemont deciding with the remote control, endures all the challenges. And in the social axis, he observes helplessly how in the municipal elections the PSC has eaten his toast in the feuds that were disputed between the two. In summary, the 300,000 votes that the Republicans left by the wayside in the last elections have activated the danger sensors in the Oriol Junqueras barracks. And with more reason with the general elections, called surprisingly by Pedro Sánchez just around the corner.
With the firm will to continue serving the public and meet the challenges of the whole of Catalonia with more strength, I have decided to make changes to the Government. Welcome to the Executive, @AnnaSimo as the new Minister of Education, @EsterCapella, of Territory, and David Mascort, of Climate Action. pic.twitter.com/MHDXEi2wOw
— Pere Aragonès and Garcia 🎗 (@perearagones) June 12, 2023
The Junqueras plan to consolidate ERC in the Catalan political centrality and gain an advantage over its competitors went through several fronts. The first, to put an end to the infantilism of the independence movement and place the negotiation with the State as the only way to accommodate a solution to the territorial conflict.. The second, to govern the Generalitat correctly and then reap the fruits of an outstanding management. Neither one thing nor the other has just worked, according to the numbers reached in the municipal elections. And the prospects for July 23 are not too rosy either..
The government crisis of Pere Aragonès intends to get more out of the toy that he now enjoys alone after the departure of JxCAT from the Catalan Executive eight months ago. That put an end to the noise made by the partners, but it served so that once calm was gained, the serious deficiencies of the Executive in some of the most important portfolios and with the largest budget became evident..
That is why Aragonès was not satisfied with replacing only and surgically Teresa Jordà, who had to leave the Ministry of Climate Action to accompany Gabriel Rufián as number two on the lists to Cortes, and chose to cut off the head of two more councillors, the one for education, Josep Gonzalez-Cambray, and the one for Territory, Juli Fernández.
The prize for government action sought by ERC in the municipal elections became a punishment. So it was time to react, point out the culprits and expel them from the field of play. Cambray no longer had a single support among the educational community and Fernández, who has only lasted eight months in office, has been dismissed because ERC has reached the conclusion that he is not sufficiently qualified to lead a ministry with such territorial influence through public works and housing policy.
The three purses that change hands are for people raised in the party's udders. The experiments of fishing outside the acronyms themselves are over, as happened when all the JxCAT directors who left the Executive had to be replaced. Eight months ago, a friendly takeover bid for other political spaces was drawn with the signings of Gemma Ubasart (ex-Podemos) for Justice, Carles Campuzano (ex-convergent) for Social Rights and Joaquim Nadal (ex-PSC) for Research and Universities. Expanding the ideological spectrum has not borne the expected fruits in the municipal elections either..
So this time the changes are to incorporate Republican thoroughbreds.. Critical voices must also be silenced, which for the first time in a long time have begun to be heard in ERC discussing the Junquerista strategy. And that goes through strengthening the institutions with party cards that are recognized among the militancy. The three new directors, Anna Simó (Education), Esther Capella (Territory) and David Mascort (Climate Action) meet this profile, which has also been sought in the election of Gabriel Rufián's number two in the candidacy for courts, Teresa Jorda.
It is difficult, beyond the message of encouragement to the party itself, that the remodeling of Aragonès serves to alleviate the problems of its Executive. He will continue to be obliged to negotiate up to the commas of the decrees with the PSC or with JxCAT and his parliamentary weakness will not improve in the remainder of the legislature. ERC was obliged to make some sensible movement – that of trying to revive the discourse of the independence unit after Sánchez called elections was laughed at by JxCAT and the CUP – to demonstrate at least the capacity to react after the municipalist setback.
And government crises always appear in the fireworks manual of political management as an attempt to recover the illusion. But Aragonès knows that, with or without a government crisis, Catalan politics has opened a new parenthesis that will not close until after the general elections.. And it will be the arithmetic that comes out of these elections that will determine the duration of the Catalan legislature. With or without a government crisis in the Government of the Generalitat. If Sánchez loses Moncloa, the Catalans will vote early in 2024. What Aragonès has done is not for the Government to last longer, it is to be better prepared and with the most aligned party if everything ends up rushing.