If there was already space separating them, this Friday's first investiture session has only widened the gap between the two main Catalan pro-independence parties Republican Left (ERC) and Together for Catalonia (Junts). The die had been cast before today's session began, and ERC's candidate Pere Aragonès knew from the start that he would not be proclaimed president today, but he ended the day with the knowledge that it will be almost impossible for him to achieve the presidency in the second vote on Tuesday. The 42 votes in his favour, from the ERC and CUP deputies, were insufficient today. And they will remain so if, as everything suggests, the 32 Junts MPs maintain their abstention in the second ballot. If they again abstain, the higher total will be the 61 'no' votes from the PSC, Comuns, Vox, Cs and PP. The sum of pro-independence votes stands at 74 - but the probable failure on Tuesday to unite all three pro-independence parties round the Aragonès candidacy will start the election countdown clock. If no investiture vote is successful in the next two months, Catalonia will return to the polls.

Candidate Aragonès and speaker Borràs, during the debate. / EFE

"We have an obligation, after a month and 14 days, to reach agreement," was how acting Catalan vice president Aragonès replied to the assertion of Junts that he should "not be in a hurry" and in fact, should forego the second ballot to allow more time for the pact to mature. But even if the intentions were good, in the crossfire between Aragonès and the leader of the Junts parliamentary group, the sparks flew. Catalonia has had a temporary government for six months and it was the substitute president who was calling for an end to this interim situation.

But the ways which ERC has conducted its negotiations - starting first with an alliance with the CUP - “with whom it will be a parliamentary partner” and not “with whom it should be a partner in government”, have annoyed the Junts MPs. Albert Batet reprimanded the Republican Left for this, arguing that his party felt they had come to the table after the meal had been eaten and asked to share in paying the bill. Junts does not question, as it reaffirmed today, that Aragonès has to be the 132nd president of the Generalitat of Catalonia , but it calls for more time to reach "a good agreement" that it does not see right now. Moreover, the party warns that this is unlikely to arrive in four days.

Condemned to understand each other

Although Aragonès set out to avoid attacks on Junts, from ERC circles there are criticisms of the attitude of their governing partners, whom they accuse of trying to impose a punishment - long after the event - for the failure to allow a presidential investiture vote on Carles Puigdemont on January 30th, 2018. In fact, Batet himself referred to this during his speech. For his part, the Republican candidate replied that the differences that there might be between ERC and Junts "are smaller than they have been in previous investitures." A way to remind them that, in the past, ERC always voted 'yes' in the first ballot for Mas (2012), Puigdemont (2016) and Torra (2018).

The debate showed, though, that if the two leading pro-independence parties end up repeating the coalition, it will not be out of desire, but out of necessity. They know they will have to roll up their sleeves to regain each other's trust. Having learned from the turmoil of the Torra government, Aragonés called for an end to "mistrust" and "maximalisms" and to generate spaces for coordination that guarantee loyalty between the partners. In the planned government programme, Junts accepts the dialogue table with the state - while metaphorically holding its nose - as does the CUP. However, it asserts the need for the Puigdemont-led exile body the Council for the Republic to set the pace. ERC, on the other hand, wants to reformulate it and limit it to the task of internationalization of the Catalan conflict.

The auditorium of the Catalan Parliament, the large space used today for health reasons to host the investiture debate. / EFE

The CUP, a stable partner

During his initial presentation, Aragonès focused on his commitment to a left-wing government which, beyond working for an amnesty law and a new referendum, is to focus on social policies and reconstruction after the Covid crises. He went through some of the commitments agreed in the pre-accord with the CUP, such legally banning some home evictions, revising the policing model and increasing the health budget. He even quoted Karl Marx, who "warned that price and value were not the same" to claim that the system of social services and care, "historically undervalued in the capitalist system", needs to be reassessed.

CUP-Guanyem election candidature leader Dolors Sabater addresses the plenary. / Sergi Alcazar

The alliance with the anti-capitalist party has given strength to ERC despite the failure in the first investiture vote. The Republicans feel supported, and their perception is that it is Junts per Catalunya who is left in the corner. Aragonès took the opportunity to praise the role of the CUP members, their "generosity and empathy". "We have found a way to focus on what we have in common and smooth off the differences," he said, recalling that the agreement signed with the CUP is "minimal" and should serve to develop government action.

For the first time in many years, the CUP is not the destabilizing actor, who came last to the pro-independence majority. And Dolors Sabater wanted to highlight this. "This time we had our homework done. We were the first to do homework." Of course, she made it clear that the document which the left-wing party signed "is not a blank cheque."

The Comuns, watching events

As the weeks have gone by since the February 14th elections, ERC's proposal to form a grand governing coalition with Junts, the CUP and the Comuns has slowly unravelled. Right now, En Común Podem is the party with the least chance of taking part. The agreement on the composition of the Bureau of Parliament, which placed Laura Borràs (Junts) in the speaker's position, was decisive for the Podemos-allied Comuns to decant for an opposition role. So far, at least.

Sources in the Comuns acknowledge that they are closely watching, in case the talks with Junts fail and ERC decides to dispense with them to explore a change of partners. “With us, there would be government tomorrow,” said the alternative left party's leader Jessica Albiach, not hesitating to touch the sensitive spot in the ERC-Junts blockage. She affirmed to Aragonès that Junts is “humiliating” him and urged him to be bold and break with the past. Moreover, Albiach confessed that when ERC finished first in the pro-independence bloc on election night, she was glad.

The Comuns option seems difficult, not so much for lack of desire, but because an ERC-CUP-Comuns tripartite would arithmetically fall far short of the majority, with only 50 deputies. That is to say, it would need to count on external endorsement, in the form of abstention, from either Junts or the PSC.

But just in case, Aragonés did not missed the opportunity to throw a wink at the Comuns, exhorting them to "stop being spectators" and get on board, to create a left-wing government fighting for an amnesty and self-determination, which they also advocate. The CUP also challenged them, inviting them to join the accord and recover the spirit of the 15-M, the Spanish alternative left protest movement that began ten years ago.

Illa, like Arrimadas

The legislature starts repeating the pattern of the previous one. That is, with the party that finshed first in the Catalan elections having no options of even running for the investiture. In 2017, Inés Arrimadas (Ciudadanos) gave up the idea from the start, despite having three more deputies than the PSC now has. With his 33, the Socialist Salvador Illa tried until the last moment, asking Borràs to propose him for the investiture. Given the lack of support shown for the former Spanish minister, the president opted for Aragonès.

Salvador Illa reviews the script of his speech. / EFE

During his speech, which was half in Spanish, the former minister showed a bitterness, expressing his disappointment with the candidate's speech and criticizing Aragonès as being a "hostage" to the CUP. “Is this submission to an anti-system [party] necessary?” he asked. Despite this angry tone, Aragonès called on him to be responsible and extended an invitation to him to join in on specific agreements throughout the legislature.

A walk-out on Vox

The cordon sanitaire to isolate far-right Vox, agreed on between ERC, Junts, the CUP, the Comuns and the PSC has had its first practical test in the investiture debate. When the extreme right leader, Ignacio Garriga, stepped up to the podium, most of the pro-independence, Comuns and some Socialist MPs left the auditorium.

The Vox MP ended his speech with a threat, telling the pro-independence deputies that they should get ready to face a collection of suits in the Constitutional Court.

Over this point - the Constitutional Court complaints - Ciudadanos also wanted to regain its former prominence. Accordingly, Cs said it will challenge the decision by the Bureau of Parliament to allow the vote of Lluís Puig, Catalan MP exiled in Belgium, to be delegated.  All the pro-independence members of the Bureau voted for this except Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, who abstained on the basis that he has an interest in the case, as a lawyer for Puig. Vox and the PP have also said they will appeal the decision to accept the delegated vote.

More than 12 hours later, the first investiture debate has failed. The second opportunity, on Tuesday, as Easter approaches. But for now, all indications are that penance will continue.

In the main image, Aragonès applauded by his ERC colleagues. / EFE