The leadership of Junts per Catalunya met this Monday in Perpignan (southern France) to discuss a change in relations with the PSOE two years after signing the investiture agreement for Pedro Sánchez as Prime Minister. The executive branch unanimously endorsed the proposal made by the party's leader, Carles Puigdemont, which basically involves breaking the investiture pact due to the"breach of duty" they accuse the PSOE of."A pact that is not implemented is a broken agreement," the former Catalan president summarized to justify his position.
In an appearance without questions from journalists, Puigdemont explained his split without clarifying how they will operate from now on in their day-to-day activities. Despite making it clear that they no longer trust the government and that Pedro Sánchez no longer has the support to govern, he avoided calling for elections or defending a vote of no confidence."We are not willing to continue helping a government that does not help Catalonia," Puigdemont emphasized."There is not enough trust," he stated. Over the course of twenty-four months,"there have not been sufficient results to justify keeping the path open," he added."I know it will be said that we haven't waited long enough, but we have been patient," the former Catalan president argued.
The Junts president has sought to portray himself as the party responsible for the divorce and has pointed the finger at the other party in the relationship:"The PSOE has deliberately broken the investiture agreement; it is ultimately responsible because it holds all the levers of power," he said."We have given them many opportunities to change, and the only change has been the time change," Puigdemont reproached.
How this divorce is visualized is one of the points that the Junts leadership had to outline, and they opted to seek a visible gesture with immediate effects: Junts is withdrawing from the negotiating table with the PSOE in Switzerland. In the last two years, 19 meetings have been held under the supervision of an international auditor. Junts has concluded that this framework no longer makes sense, due to the lack of specifics and the ever-increasing distance between the two parties.
The party's membership will have to ratify the leadership's decision in a referendum to be held this week, between Wednesday and Thursday.
"Junts only has seven deputies, and you have to see the mess we're making," the former president stated. He claims that his party is compliant, and that it only opted to break away after granting several extensions to the confidence agreement:"Junts could have chosen between the PSOE and the PP, and it chose the PSOE," he noted. Regarding the scenario that now unfolds, he avoided giving many specifics but did predict more difficulties for the Executive:"It won't have the budget or the capacity to govern," he predicted. He avoided calling for elections or showing support for a possible vote of no confidence, but did say that Sánchez may have"power" and a "seat," but "he won't be able to govern."
The decision was made in three stages. First, yesterday afternoon, the permanent committee, the hard core of the party, met to discuss the status of compliance with the agreements. This morning, at the start of the meeting of the executive committee, which is the extended leadership, Puigdemont explained his point of view and unequivocally defended the termination of the agreement with the PSOE. Finally, the Junts leaders expressed their support for the leader's position. Puigdemont criticizes the government for at least three"failures." First, the fact that the amnesty has not reached all the leaders of the Catalan independence process, starting with him, despite having been approved in Congress and due to the obstacles of some judges. Second, the government's failure to obtain approval in Congress—due to Podemos's rejection—of the transfer of immigration powers to the Generalitat of Catalonia. And thirdly, Spain's failure to obtain official recognition by the European Union for Catalan, Galician, and Basque. The government maintains that it has done everything possible to comply with these agreements, but that it has been the judges and Podemos and the PP, respectively, who have prevented full compliance.
The true scope of Junts' decision to break the investiture pact remains to be seen, as in recent months Puigdemont's party has already distanced itself significantly from the government and rejected flagship measures such as reducing working hours.
This morning, ahead of the Junts executive meeting in Perpignan, messages from the Socialist Party continued urging patience from Carles Puigdemont's party. For example, the president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, called on Junts to make a"sensible" decision and warned of the "regressionist alternative" that, in his opinion, a government led by the PP and Vox would represent.
Junts' decision on Monday, which had been announced in recent days, comes after several party leaders, including Puigdemont himself, have issued warnings to the PSOE since late last summer. With varying degrees of intensity, these leaders warned that"things would happen" in the autumn if decisive progress was not made in complying with the agreements.
Junts' membership will have the final say on the split with the PSOE. The leadership will hold a virtual consultation with the rank and file, as has been done at other important moments, such as when Puigdemont's party decided in 2022 to leave the Catalan government it shared with ERC, or to decide to invest Pedro Sánchez. The consultation will most likely be held on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
