The Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, made it clear this Friday that he will not call elections in Catalonia and that his intention is for his party, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), to govern alone. This was clearly expressed in an institutional speech after junior coalition partner Together for Catalonia (Junts) announced that it was leaving the government, following the vote by party members which indicated a majority wish to leave the Palau de la Generalitat. "I respect, but I do not share" the decision, said Aragonès clearly, promising to construct a "stable" executive "away from the noise" now that the Government is "entering a new stage".
▶️ #President @perearagones: "Avui tothom ha de pensar en el país, en Catalunya i en tota la ciutadania, en els mesos difícils que venen. Es tracta que qui guanyi sigui el país. Aquesta és la meva responsabilitat i la de totes les institucions de Catalunya" pic.twitter.com/8FT7u5zb20
— Govern. Generalitat (@govern) October 7, 2022
President Pere Aragonès, quoted in tweet from the Catalan Government account: "Today everyone must think of the country, in Catalonia and all of its citizens, in the difficult months ahead. What this is about is for the country to be the winner. This is my responsibility and that of all the institutions of Catalonia"
Aragonès thanked all the Junts ministers for the work done up until now, and announced that in the coming days he will carry out a renovation of the cabinet in order to appoint ministers "who represent the consensuses of 80%" in order to bring Catalonia closer to independence. "We are starting a new stage with security and confidence, with an executive that will be dedicated to the public", added the Catalan president and ERC national coordinator. He also said that "it is necessary to restore trust" and he gave the view that "everyone must be up to the task and contribute to ensuring the stability of the institutions". Having said that, Aragonès also responded to one of Laura Borràs's most forceful statements ("Junts wins and Aragonès loses") and assured that "the most important thing is that Catalonia wins".
The institutional speech from Pere Aragonès was delivered a few hours after the Junts membership decided that it no longer wanted to continue in the government that he presides over. After two days of voting, 55.73% of party members gave a negative answer to the question "Do you want Junts to continue being part of the current Government of Catalonia?" Only 42.39% of the rank and file members were happy to stay in the executive. Participation in the consultation was very high: 79.18% of the party's 6,465 members took part. Voting ended this Friday at 5pm, and the result was made public a few minutes later. The party executive met after the results were made public.
When Junts party president Laura Borràs and general secretary Jordi Turull appeared before the media, they announced that the Junts ministers in the Catalan government had already sent their resignations to president Pere Aragonès. Borràs made it clear in her speech that the result that has emerged from the Junts vote marked a reorganization of the party's internal balance. "Junts wins, Aragonès loses", she said to sum up the result. The president of the party warned that Junts will from now on lead a "firm opposition" to a government which had "failed and lost its democratic legitimacy". Turull reiterated her reproaches to ERC and guaranteed internal unity within Junts. Borràs noted, after these statements, that the party executive meeting had ended with applause.