The government is pessimistic about relations with Junts and, in particular, about the vote of the seven deputies of the party of Carles Puigdemont on the trajectory of the deficit – or spending ceiling – this Thursday in Congress and then on the draft General State Budget for 2025.
But Moncloa will not give up its efforts until the time comes to vote, as has already happened with the independentists in other important votes that have taken place during the legislature. This time, the Government’s argument is that of loss of funding and investment What the rejection of the deficit trajectory by Congress, the step prior to the approval of budgets, would mean for Catalonia.
This means that this Friday’s meeting between Puigdemont and the number three of the PSOE, Santos Cerdanin Switzerland, did not completely solve the mystery, in a certain sense. However, it did allow the socialists to listen directly to the long list of reproaches of the former president of the Generalitat.
There is no official version of this meeting and the negotiations with Junts. The argument to justify hermeticism This is because negotiations between the two parties are still ongoing.
Cerdán returned to Spain on Saturday after Friday’s meeting that was to explore the positions of both parties and that complements other contacts that are taking place by other means between Moncloa and Junts.
The socialist leader did not meet face to face with the former president of the Generalitat since last June, before the pact between ERC and PSC, the investiture of Salvador Illa and the new escape from Puigdemont.
Subsequently, the Junts deputies overturned in Congress the spending ceiling presented by the government in July, which is identical to the one that will be put to the vote on Thursday.
Amnesty and electoral defeat
Since then, the two issues that most irritate Puigdemont and that lead him to insist that this is an investiture pact and not a legislative pact have not changed.
Specifically, Puigdemont is particularly irritated by the delay in the implementation of the amnesty lawin addition to considering it unbearable that the socialists are at the head of the central government, the Generalitat and the Barcelona City Council.
Regarding the amnesty, the entourage of the leader of the Junts expressed its discomfort with the news that the Constitutional Court will not rule in his favor at least until spring 2025. Faced with this, the government claims to have done everything it could so that the pardon measure is applied.
But for Puigdemont this does not seem enough and he did not hesitate to repeat openly that relations with Pedro Sánchez were broken off and that, therefore, they were free to join the opposition in various votes even if the stability of the government was at risk.
Furthermore, Junts insists on considering that the agreements signed with Sánchez, such as the use of catalan in the European Union, the total transfer of immigration powers in Catalonia or what they consider underfunding of this community.
On this last point, Junts considers that the agreement reached by PSC and ERC is insufficient and that none of these parties really want to implement it.
Delayed until November
The government understands that it may be much easier for the Junts to support the budgets after the congress that the independentists will hold in the second half of October, which is why it is considering postponing the processing of the accounts in Congress until November.
But for this to happen must approve the spending ceiling and that is why he insists on the argument that if this project is rejected on Thursday in the key vote, it will be necessary to return to the current trajectory of spending. If this comes to fruition, city councils and communities will have to 5 billion to spend.
This particularly affects the Catalan municipal councils governed by the Junts. The government told Junts that if it rectified and voted on Thursday, it would be able to offer a notable increase in investment in Catalonia. Above all, this would improve the execution of the budget in Catalonia, which is one of the most repeated demands of the citizens of Puigdemont.
This is why the government is also pushing for Catalan Business Community take Puigdemont on the path to agreement. Improve the financing of Catalonia and, at the same time, promote the more moderate sector of Juntswhich is not without recalling what Convergencia was years ago.
