The Catalan president, Pere Aragonès (ERC), and the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, have been meeting at the Palau de la Generalitat this Wednesday evening to assess the serious crisis that has opened between the two pro-independence government partners, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) and Together for Catalonia (Junts). This meeting is being held after the president met for two hours with members of his coalition government cabinet to assess the clash that took place on Tuesday night in the general policy debate in Parliament, when Junts asked the president to submit to a confidence vote. The presidency department has announced that Aragonès will appear before the press at the end of the meeting with Turull from the Generalitat palace's Gothic Gallery. According to government sources, Aragonès has set a deadline of 48 hours for Junts to clarify its situation. Otherwise, say the sources, he will encourage them to leave the government.
An extraordinary meeting of the Catalan Government was held late this afternoon, having been announced by the president at 1pm after he had emptied his entire morning agenda to address the crisis that had opened. The vice-president, Jordi Puigneró (Junts), and the party's government ministers prepared for the meeting at a lunch in Parliament which included the president of the party, Laura Borràs, the general secretary, Jordi Turull, the president of the parliamentary group, Albert Batet, and the party vice-president and spokesperson, Josep Rius. After lunch, the Junts ministers arrived together at the Palau de la Generalitat to take part in the government meeting.
Faced with Junts's desire to propose a collective position, it transpired that the president's intention was to demand that the ministers position themselves one by one on the crisis. ERC has not hidden its intention to take advantage of the internal differences that exist within the Junts party about the desirability of continuing in the government.
The crisis between the two Catalan government parties - seldom far below the surface - boiled over after, in the last section of the parliamentary debate on Tuesday night, the Junts leader, Albert Batet, demanded that Aragonès fulfill the pending commitments of the 2021 pact made to form the coalition government or, if not, submit to a motion of confidence. In response, Aragonès, visibly irritated, called on his governing partners to make a quick decision about their continuation on the executive and warned them that, for his part, he too would take the steps necessary. On Tuesday, Parliament adjourned after 11pm, with the government in open conflict, and this Wednesday morning the rumours about a possible exit from the Catalan executive have multiplied.