The negotiations for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez are intensifying now that he has been proposed as the new candidate to lead the next Spanish government by the king, Felipe VI. The key to the investiture is in the hands of Together for Catalonia (Junts), but this Thursday, the Canarian Coalition (CC) tried to reduce the protagonism of the pro-independence party by offering its only MP, Cristina Valido, to give her 'yes' to the Socialists (PSOE). This, asserted the president of the Canarian party, Fernando Clavijo, would turn Junts into a "secondary actor" because it would no longer be essential that the seven deputies of the Juntaires vote in favour, but rather, that an abstention would suffice. In response, Together for Catalonia has conveyed to the PSOE that the party only contemplates voting 'yes' or 'no' on the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and flatly denies the possibility of an abstention. Sources from Junts tell ElNacional.cat that this week they have informed the Socialists of this decision via their negotiators.
In this way, Junts seeks to make it clear that there will be no nuances in the decision the party adopts, whether to vote for or against the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, and it deactivates the Canarian Coalition's attempt to sideline the party led by Jordi Turull and Laura Borràs from the central role it has in this negotiation. In fact, on August 17th, Junts voted favourably in the first and only vote for the candidacy of Francina Armengol as speaker of the Congress of Deputies after an agreement that included four points: the officiality of Catalan in the European Union, the use of Catalan in Congress, the reactivation of the commission of inquiry on Pegasus and the creation of a new commission to investigate the Catalonia terrorist attacks of August 17th, 2017.
The (failed) Canarian Coalition attempt to sideline Junts
On the night of July 23rd, after the election results, some Socialist voices considered that they could count on receiving 172 votes for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez, a calculation that put all the focus on the seven Junts deputies. But the conditions which the Canarian party would impose on the handover of its single vote were also at that point unknown, after it had initially said that it would not agree with the People's Party (PP) if was accompanied by Vox, and nor with the PSOE if it was supported by Sumar. In the end, the party reached an agreement with the PP and, in fact, voted 'yes' to the investiture of Alberto Núñez Feijóo last week.
Since that failed investiture, the island party has not closed the door to exploring an agreement with the PSOE, and this Thursday directly offered its support to Pedro Sánchez in order to relegate Junts to a "secondary role" and mean that the struggle to secure affirmative votes from Junts would no longer be relevant, thus allowing the Socialist candidate to repeat his leadership of the Spanish government. The president of the Canary Islands autonomous government and CC leader, Fernando Clavijo, indicated that "Spain is not condemned to depend on the vote of Junts" and reiterated his offer because they are against the proposed amnesty law, which he regards as "not moral" . But this tactic has proved futile: Junts has ruled out abstention in any case, and will vote yes or no.
Pujol, Puigdemont and the role of Salvador Illa
This Junts position has been announced on the same day that the Catalan president-in-exile, Carles Puigdemont, has echoed the advice that former president Jordi Pujol conveyed to him in exclusive statements to El Nacional.cat: "Catalonia must not fall into candour" in the negotiations with the Spanish state. In addition, the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, has ruled out Salvador Illa as an interlocutor for the negotiations on the investiture: "I find that giving prominence to the person who deceived Junts the day before the pact of shame for the Barcelona city council, preventing Xavier Trias from being mayor, is a very strange way of showing us that they can be trusted." Shortly afterwards, Puigdemont declared his agreement with Turull: "It's good to remember the reasons why Salvador Illa will never be able to be a valid interlocutor for generating trust". Meanwhile, negotiations continue.