Together for Catalonia (Junts) is not leaving the Catalan government just yet. The leadership of the party has decided unanimously that it will consult its members on whether or not to continue in the pro-independence coalition in the face of the serious crisis with senior partner the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), following the dismissal on Wednesday night of the party's senior figure in the government, vice president Jordi Puigneró. As ElNacional.cat has learned, the party plans to announce next Monday the details of a consultation that will take place on October 6th and 7th. The party has also decided to put forward a proposal to the president, Pere Aragonès, to try to overcome the crisis, based on the fulfillment of the still-pending agreements made in the 2021 ERC-Junts pact which produced the coalition. The restitution of Puigneró to the vice-presidency will also be demanded. Junts will leaves Aragonès until this coming Sunday to give an answer to the party's proposal. In exchange, Junts will give up demanding that the president submit to a vote of parliamentary confidence.
Junts took these decisions after a very long day at the party's headquarters, which started at 10 in the morning and ended at 8:30 at night - with a break for lunch - and during which the leadership debated whether to leave the government today - as those close to party president Laura Borràs demanded - or to submit the decision to the party grass roots. Finally, the second option prevailed. But, in addition, with a political proposal being made before that to president Aragonès, with whom they hope to negotiate until Sunday. However, on Thursday evening, sources in the Generalitat palace reported that president Pere Aragonès saw nothing new in the Junts proposal.
Guarantees and deadlines
In the press conference after today's meeting, the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, avoided explaining the specific terms of the proposal he will put to the president. He limited himself to advancing that they will send Aragonès a "proposal of specifics, guarantees and deadlines" to ensure compliance with the 2021 government pact on three points that they consider "crucial" to advance towards independence: the strategic unity between pro-independence forces and entities, the negotiation on an amnesty and self-determination, and coordination of the parties in Madrid." "The president said he wanted us to make a quick decision. Between now and Sunday we have no other job apart from trying to come to an agreement," said Turull, after Aragonès had asked them on Tuesday to decide quickly on their continuity in the government. The general secretary assured that it is not an ultimatum.
Borràs explained that next Monday, October 3rd, when the response from president Aragonès is known, the executive will determine the formulation of the question to be put to party members on October 6th and 7th. In fact, until the crisis between the government partners left the coalition on the verge of self-destruction, the plan made by Junts was to ask its members about the party's continuity in the Catalan executive after its internal audit had evaluated the degree of compliance with the 2021 pact and concluded that no progress had been made on the issues affecting the independence process.
Aragonès: "nothing new"
According to sources in the Palau de la Generalitat, the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, sees nothing new in the Junts party's "proposal for specifics, guarantees and deadlines" on compliance with the legislative agreement. While the sources note that Aragonès does not know the details of the Junts proposal, they assert that the president "was clear" in his response on Tuesday night in Parliament when he agreed to address the three points that Junts claims about the legislative agreement, and they also assert that Junts makes no new offer on the confidence issue, which became the trigger for the crisis, when the parliamentary leader of Junts, Albert Batet, called on a surprised Aragonès to submit to a confidence vote over his compliance with the 2021 coalition agreement.