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The first calls from Madrid have arrived in Waterloo after the July 23rd general election. Left-coalition Sumar has decided to knock on Carles Puigdemont's door, and start talks with the Catalan president in exile, trying to convince him to invest Pedro Sánchez as prime minister, according to sources in Yolanda Díaz's party. The person in charge of making these approaches is Jaume Asens, former deputy in Congress for the Comuns (he did not run in the July 23rd elections) who has a good relationship with Carles Puigdemont. In fact, he advised him on his exile.

Sumar insists that the result of the last general elections makes re-establishing a coalition government in Spain possible. “This obliges us to start a dialogue on the basis of responsibility, respect for the results and mutual recognition between the various parties”, Yolanda Díaz's team points out. “From Sumar we understand that Spain is a plural country and that we are in the best position to lead negotiations with all spaces called to understand each other and articulate a government for the social and plurinational majority of our country”, they add.

Sumar justifies having entrusted the task of convincing Carles Puigdemont to Jaume Asens because “we must rely on the best” if talks are to prosper. “It is a luxury to have someone with the experience” of Jaume Asens, who “has demonstrated his ability to reach agreements in the past”, they said. They added that “his knowledge of the Catalan political reality, as well as his good relationship with many of the spaces called to understand each other, will make reaching an agreement easier”.

Yolanda Díaz's party believes that with Jaume Asens's first approach to Carles Puigdemont, learning the Catalan pro-independence movement's “starting positions” will be possible. “It will be easier to reach an agreement,” she said. At the same time, Carles Puigdemont's team avoids commenting on these talks. His office stresses that the Catalan president in exile will comment on his contacts when he deems it appropriate.

Sánchez asks for patience and is confident he can convince Junts per Catalunya

The first contacts between the Spanish coalition government and Carles Puigdemont were made public minutes after Pedro Sánchez asked for patience and showed confidence in being able to convince Junts per Catalunya to allow his investiture. “Democracy will find the formula for governability”, assured the Socialist leader to the party's federal executive on Monday, in a message of hope, looking to avoid a new call for elections. Thus, socialist sources are calling for a cautious approach in the first days after the election and trust in the fact that Junts has “two souls”.

This morning, Jordi Turull, Junt's secretary general, already warned it will not be easy for Sánchez to convince his party. He reiterated that Junts' objective is not to guarantee the Spain's political stability, but to achieve the Catalonia's independence, which is why he recalled that the Spanish state must grant amnesty to all those persecuted for being pro-independence supporters and allow the holding of a referendum on self-determination, as the only way to guarantee the Catalonia's independence.

Puigdemont's response: “Don't count your chickens”

After this first approach of Sumar to Puigdemont was made public, the Catalan president in exile himself reacted through social networks, using irony. “Fer Pasqua abans de Rams', isn't that you say? (It's for a friend)”, he wrote [Catalan translation of a Spanish expression equivalent to "Don't count your chickens"].