Mistrust between JxCAT and ERC undermines plan to join forces in Congress

The mistrust between JxCAT and ERC undermined the declaration in the plenary of the Parliament about the good intentions of both Albert Batet, spokesman for Junts, and Pere Aragonès to join forces to jointly negotiate the investiture of Pedro Sánchez. The formation of Carles Puigdemont was outraged this Wednesday because the Republicans had secretly agreed with the Socialists to enter the Barcelona Provincial Council. So the crossed reproaches continue, such as the one Batet dropped against the Catalan president: “In Junts we will not do strange dealings on the sly and against nature like the one that has been done in the Barcelona Provincial Council”.

Fundamental distrust prevails. Batet also dropped a criticism of the “false dialogue” that, in his opinion, the Generalitat was maintaining with Moncloa. As Aragonès warned him, “if we enter into a dynamic of reproaches, we will not succeed”.

But JxCAT and ERC do not have the same objectives, nor do they come from the same position, nor is there a minimally common past discourse. In the campaign, the Republicans took time, but ended up saying that they would stop the extreme right. On the other hand, Junts always maintained that he would not make Pedro Sánchez president, whatever happened.

“We'll do better if we do it together, yeah. And, in the same way, I say: if we start a dynamic that may sound reproachful, surely it will be much more difficult to achieve that common front that you say you want to move forward, ”said Aragonès. It was the last plenary. Parliament goes on vacation this week. And everything will enter a path of waiting for September and fleeing from the media focus.

As La Vanguardia explained, this Monday the general secretary of JxCAT, Jordi Turull, the party's spokesman, Josep Rius, and the spokesman in Parliament, Albert Batet, ate in a restaurant's private room while connecting by videoconference with Carles Puigdemont, what's next in belgium. The message that the fugitive expresident sent them, according to sources familiar with the meeting, was simple: “Hold your position.”. And this is how the three interested parties communicated it to the party executive, who later met that same afternoon: demand amnesty from Pedro Sánchez and a referendum on self-determination.

That is not the position of ERC, which aspires to negotiate from more realistic positions and is afraid of continuing to lose votes if there is a new electoral call, according to Republican sources.. And that's where misgivings are born. But in JxCAT they do not get out of these demands. And that makes it very difficult for the two parties to go in unison..

restlessness in the party

Within JxCAT, there is concern about the situation. The party has spent 2.3 million in the last campaign, largely financed by bonuses among militants. The result has been the worst in history: only seven deputies in Congress. Worse even than the first generals that Jordi Pujol attended with CiU. Many mayors view with concern the drift of training, the loss of institutional power and the scant game that their politics is making. But no criticism is made either in public or in private.. Although in the executive on Monday some members did raise misgivings about such a maximalist approach to such an important negotiation that in practice, as Aragonès said in Parliament, “gives a second chance” to the independence movement after some very bad results on 23- J.

Even for JxCAT they could be worse. In Girona, there is a deputy who is at stake for the external vote and that will be determined tomorrow, Friday. The results have been so scarce that there is only a difference of 350 for the PP to obtain one of the seven seats that Junts now has in Congress.

Bad situation

Every bad situation is likely to get worse, says the saying. If the final count delivers that deputy from Girona to the PP, JxCAT would no longer tie with ERC, but would be left with six deputies compared to seven for the Republicans. And not only that. With this result, it is enough for Puigdemont's men to abstain for Pedro Sánchez to repeat his mandate. On the other hand, if the representative of Girona loses, abstention will not be enough, they would have to vote yes.

ERC already warned that it would vote for an investiture to stop a PP-Vox government. But Junts always said that for them the popular and the PSOE were the same. With this approach, Carles Puigdemont remains a prisoner of his speech and the pact becomes impossible. If abstention is already so expensive, it is hard to imagine what the former president would ask for having to vote yes.