"Do you want Junts to continue being part of the current Government of Catalonia?" That is the direct question that 6,465 members of Together for Catalonia (Junts) who have belonged to the party for at least six months will be able to vote on this Thursday and Friday, in accordance with the statutes. The key week to find out if the government will continue or break up has begun with an eruption of news in the heart of the Junts party that can only be explained by the few days left until the consultation. The Catalan foreign minister, Victòria Alsina, opened fire by abandoning her position as an independent and, even though she will not be able to vote because she has only been a member for a few days, she wanted to express her political commitment to the party and not participate from the sideline. The second was the former Barcelona mayor Xavier Trias, the wished-for candidate that Junts would like in order to have a certain solidity in the battle of the Catalan capital in the municipal elections next May.
Alsina and Trias seek to strengthen the side of continuity in the government in an internal vote that apparently seems open, since the supporters of leaving the coalition have not been able, yet, to explain how the pro-independence majority could be stitched back together - we must not forget the 52% popular vote for pro-independence parties at the last Catalan elections and the absolute majority won in Parliament - after such a drastic decision, what sort of opposition politics the party would pursue in the Catalan chamber, with whom it would establish alliances after the next municipal elections to form council majorities, and with which political party it would make its way towards independence considering that Junts has only 32 deputies out of 135 parliamentarians and is the third-ranked political force.
Those in favour of continuing will also have to explain in the next 72 hours how it is that they continue in government now, since senior partner the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) has not agreed to the demands of Laura Borràs and Jordi Turull, and will have to throw off the offensive label that they are just there to collect their salaries, something social media critics are using to discredit a 'remain' vote. The fact that people like Josep Rull and Quim Forn, political prisoners and currently in private business, defend continuity in the Catalan executive obviously gives more credibility to the defenders of remaining. In this respect, the role of Trias should introduce a point of reflection in an internal battle which is so turbulent, even partly emotional. His forceful words that it would be "wrong and erroneous" to leave the government, that "based on reproaches you cannot govern" and his more long-range view that "once the public catharsis has been made, we must regain unity and set objectives [jointly] until the end of the legislature". Listening to Trias, rising above occasional disagreements, perhaps it is easier to understand why he can win elections and it does not sound strange when he says in the same sentence that he wants to talk to his friends in ERC and won't rule out forming pacts with the PSC.
Until Friday at 5pm, when voting closes, Junts will be subjected to barrages of internal information crossfire and opposing public positions, something quite unusual in a political party of its size. Turull, in one of the few gestures of public relaxation in recent hours, expressed the simple hope that the consultation won't end in a tie, as happened in a momentous CUP vote in 2015 during the investiture of Artur Mas, which ended, as is well known, with his stepping aside and the arrival of Carles Puigdemont. The general secretary has also indicated that he will announce his own vote in the consultation through an explanation to members, perhaps at a party event. His discourse at the executive meeting on Monday leads one to think that he will share with Borràs the position of non-continuity in the government. But that, as he said, is jumping ahead of one's self.