The leader of En Comú Podem, Jessica Albiachhas been the first of the opposition to which the ‘president’ of the Generalitat has summoned, Pere Aragones, to analyze the new stage of the Govern in minority of ERC. The meeting, announced by EL PERIÓDICO and held at the Palace of the Generalitat and that has not reached an hour of duration, has not served to weave no strong alliance. Not even to outline it, a situation for which the ‘commons’ warn that, far from being a stable partner, they will go vote by vote and that their support will have a high price. From the outset, they already warn that the budgets of this stage without Junts in the Executiu have to be more to the left and not those designed by the ‘exconseller’ James Giro. Despite the breakup of the pro-independence coalition, Albiach’s reading is that ERC has not jumped moorings of postconvergents nor does it assume that variable geometry is “over”.
He has said in recent days that this Government was born “dead & rdquor;. If he is born “dead”, can the legislature continue?
I said that it was born dead because it is a government that has the support of 33 deputies out of 135, therefore it is not the government of 80% nor is it the government of 52%, it is the government of 21% and, above all, it is a government that it is not forging alliances with any other political force. To govern, he needs support and parliamentary majorities that do not exist right now. Obviously, we have to wait.
Did you expect more from the ‘president’ when exploring a stable alliance with the ‘commons’?
I expected a more ambitious ‘president’ when specifying what alliances we will have from now on. We are in a scenario in which variable geometry has ended and in which Junts has emancipated itself from ERC but ERC has not just emancipated itself from Junts. We are seeing it with Aragonès asking Junts for support to approve the budgets. The Government is weak and isolated.
A year and a half ago the ‘comuns’ called for the breakup of ERC and Junts. Do you define this scenario as an opportunity or not?
It remains to be seen, because we have seen many CKD. We will have to evaluate this Government by its actions and not by its speeches. Many times they make progressive speeches that do not end up materializing in policies. It is true that in this year and a half there were matters in the hands of Junts that have not advanced as they should, but neither have those of ERC. It depended on ERC not to have the ‘minister’ Cambray, who is the one who has had the most strikes. And Acció Climàtica makes a speech about green transformation while defending the celebration of the Olympic Games in the Pyrenees without knowing if there will be snow in 2030.
If a few months go by and the Government has no more support, we will enter another phase
would you have counted Gemma Ubasart as ‘consellera’?
I have known her for a long time and I consider that she is a very prepared profile. You can add, like the other ‘consellers’, that I think there are profiles that are powerful, depending on the majorities that this Government has, and right now it is weak and has no support.
Should Aragonès submit to a matter of trust?
When in the TV-3 interview he said that he would not submit to a question of confidence because if we do not go to elections it was a confirmation, again, that he has a Government of 21% and not 80%. Right now we are not in the scenario of the question of trust, we believe that we have to leave him some time. But if the months go by and he is unable to obtain more parliamentary support, we will enter another phase.
To what extent will it contribute to sustaining the legislature?
We have always said that we were not here to support the Government, but to make life easier for people. We will go from law to law, negotiation to negotiation, thinking about what is best for the people.
Let’s see what ERC we find, it has many faces
Do you then rule out a stable alliance to continue the legislature?
The ‘president’ has not asked us, that first. Second, we have to see what ERC we find ourselves with. With the ERC that is capable, for the good of the country, of raising the minimum wage or the one that puts the labor reform at risk? Are we facing the ERC that defends public education or the one that maintains the ‘minister’ Cambray? The one that wants to make the green transformation or the one that defends the Winter Games? ERC has many faces.
Do you understand the reasons why ERC does not want to weave big agreements with the PSC?
We are facing vetoes that are selective. We have seen how ERC, PSC and Junts had no problem dividing up the chairs of the CCMA or how ERC has been a great partner in the Barcelona City Council legislature with ‘comuns’ and PSC. The State budgets with ERC have also been approved. I have major discrepancies with Junts and that has not prevented me from being responsible for the needs of the country and sitting down at a table with them to agree on budgets.
How do you interpret Salvador Illa’s permanently outstretched hand to the Government?
He should answer it. But it is true that he does not want it to happen to him like Inés Arrimadas, who won an election with 36 deputies and who was the most useless parliamentary majority.
He froze the negotiation of the budgetsWhen will they defrost it?
There have been no contacts with the new ‘consellera’ of Economy. Catalonia does not have to settle for some Junts budgets. We have the opportunity to have progress budgets without the brake of Junts. We have an opportunity to move forward.
Do you understand that with Junts out, the budgets have to move more to the left?
Evidently. We would not understand that we have the same budgets with a government exclusively of ERC as with that of the coalition between ERC and Junts.
If the budgets are extended, can the legislature continue?
If they are extended, ERC will have to reflect. If a ‘president’ without sitting down to negotiate with other forces speaks of an extension, he will have to explain to us why he wants to be in the Government. When the ‘president’ asks Junts for a vote on the budgets, does that mean that we lose the opportunity to have progress budgets without Junts’ brakes? Is the ‘president’ insisting on Junts to further tighten the space to see if Junts breaks? Are we still in this logic of partisan brawls instead of thinking about the country?
Is it essential for the ERC to approve the State budgets for the ‘comuns’ to approve those of the Generalitat?
We do not condition the budgets of Catalonia with other budgets that I consider to be good, expansive and necessary.
But last year it happened with the Barcelona City Council…
It would be a mistake to consider that Catalonia is an island. The Catalans need, at a time like the present, resources that come from Catalonia, the State and the municipalities. If Aragonès and the ‘consellera’ invite us to negotiation, we will sit down. We have heard ERC say these days that we are priority partners. It is important that ERC does not speak on behalf of En Comú Podem. Partners are not advertised, they are negotiated.
Does it bother you that the PSOE has left the housing law out of the bills?
Not only does that worry me, but Salvador Illa has said that he had Joan Clos as a reference in real estate matters, who is the main representative of the real estate employers. Either you are with the bosses or you are with the citizens. The socialists are wrong and it is important that we push to regulate the price of rents and also of mortgages.
From the dialogue table I trust that we will have fruits soon
Are they resigned to an interim situation in the Parliament with the presidency of Laura Borràs suspended?
Mrs. Borràs was not elected president because of votes that fell from heaven. She was chosen with the votes of ERC. Therefore, it is her responsibility to end the interim. Or via parliamentary regulation or, if it is considered that there is no way to do it, then through a political agreement. We have never voted Borràs as president.
Does the crime of sedition have to be reformed or removed from the criminal code?
An agreement has to be reached. We have to bring the Spanish criminal code up to par with European criminal codes. It would not only be beneficial for the leaders of the ‘procés’, but also to be able to guarantee the right to protest. From this will to reach an agreement, the majorities can give and I hope that it will be one of the main fruits of the next meeting of the dialogue table.
Are the talks going well enough to bear these fruits before the end of the year?
The two parties are working on dejudicialization and I am confident that we will soon bear fruit.
The PSC says that there is no repression against the independence movement, although it defends dejudicialization. Is there repression or not?
Yes, there has been repression and intolerable situations have occurred. Not only against independence. We have seen sewers of the State act against any voice that would question the one and free Spain, therefore we must move forward and expand rights.
“In Comú Podem it will not be diluted in Sumar”
Yolanda Díaz presents Sumar this Saturday Barcelona. You come from Podemos. Do you understand the reluctance of the party to dilute its initials?
Nobody here talks about diluting anything. Sumar is a citizen movement in which there are parties and organized and unorganized citizens. No one has to dilute. In fact, En Comú Podem has already said that it will not be diluted. But Sumar does have to be much more than En Comú Podem and this vision and ambition is very positive, it should not represent a threat to anyone.
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The PSC insists that a new stage must be opened in Barcelona and considers Ada Colau to be amortized. Is it the end of this alliance?
The PSC is in an electoral campaign, neither more nor less. During the legislature in Barcelona we had a partner inside the government, which was the PSC, and one outside, ERC. Barcelona is an international benchmark. There are many ‘lobbies’ that want us, as evidenced by the 11 complaints filed.