Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CATALONIA

Separatist party backs Spain’s ruling Socialists to form govt in Catalonia

Catalan separatist party ERC agreed on Friday to support efforts by Spain's Socialists to form a government in the wealthy northeastern region, a boost for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Published: 3 August 2024 07:39 CEST
ERC acting Secretary General Marta Rovira (2R) speaks alongside Catalan regional president Pere Aragones (2L) during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia
ERC acting Secretary General Marta Rovira (2R) speaks alongside Catalan regional president Pere Aragones (2L) during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia, on 2 August 2024. Friday's party vote came out in favour of supporting Spain's socialists in forming a government in Catalonia. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP)

Securing the backing of  the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) is key for Sanchez’s Socialists, who won the most seats in a regional election in Catalonia in May but fell short of a majority.

The Socialists, led locally by former health minister Salvador Illa, took 42 seats in Catalonia’s 135-seat regional assembly. The party’s coalition partners at the national level, the far-left Sumar alliance, won six while the ERC got 20.

Being able to form a government in Catalonia will be seen as a vindication of Sanchez’s strategy of trying to tamp down support for separatism in the region by offering concessions, including a controversial amnesty for those involved in an illegal independence referendum in 2017 that triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

To form a government, Illa will need the support of at least 68 votes in a first round of voting in Catalonia’s regional parliament, or a simple majority in a second round.

In an internal party vote on Friday, ERC militants approved a pre-agreement to support the Socialists to form a regional government in Catalonia with 53.5 percent in favour and 44.8 percent against.

“The result is clear, it is a yes,” the party’s secretary general, Marta Rovira, told a Barcelona news conference. “It is not a gratuitous yes, it is not an absolute yes. It is a vigilant yes, a demanding yes.”

The deal includes a proposal to grant Catalonia full control of the taxes collected in the region, which has been for decades one of the main demands of pro-independence parties in the region.

The proposal, which still must be approved by Spain’s parliament, is opposed by the conservative opposition as well as by some quarters of the Socialist party who argue it will deprive the central state of a substantial source of revenue.

But Sanchez has defended the agreement, saying Wednesday it will “open a new era in Catalonia that will be positive for Catalan society and for Spanish society as a whole.”

If parties fail to agree on a new head of Catalonia’s regional government by August 26, fresh elections will be called in the region in October.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Begoña Gómez joins Spain’s PM in suing judge investigating her

The Spanish prime minister's wife Begoña Gómez has also launched a lawsuit against the judge investigating her for alleged corruption and influence peddling, according to a document seen by AFP.

Published: 2 August 2024 15:37 CEST
Begoña Gómez joins Spain's PM in suing judge investigating her

Gómez is alleged to have used her husband’s position as leverage within her professional circles to influence contracts or set up a masters program at a Madrid university where she works.

By filing a lawsuit, Gómez followed in the footsteps of her husband and socialist premier Pedro Sánchez who on Wednesday said he launched a lawsuit claiming abuse of office by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado.

A lawsuit was filed by Gómez’s defence in Madrid claiming that Peinado had “adopted arbitrary and manifestly unfair judicial decisions” against her as part of an “unusual and erratic” investigation, according to the document seen by AFP.

The prime minister’s wife also accuses the judge of having broken the secrecy of the investigation — since it had not yet been made public – after the Madrid courts sent out press releases on the case and certain media published material from the file.

Gómez is being investigated for alleged influence-peddling and corruption following a complaint filed by anti-graft NGO “Manos Limpias” – Spanish for “Clean Hands” – which has links to the far right.

On Tuesday, Sánchez used his legal right not to testify against his wife when questioned by Peinado.

Shortly after the hearing, Spain’s state legal services filed a lawsuit in Sánchez’s name and said the premier’s request to testify in writing, as allowed under Spanish law for top government officials, had been unjustifiably rejected.

“The dignity of the institution of the office of the prime minister is being defended,” Sánchez told a news conference when asked why the lawsuit was filed.

The “rights” of the office “have been violated, nothing more and nothing less, by the judge,” he added.

Sánchez has denied any wrongdoing by his wife and has repeatedly argued the allegations are part of a right-wing smear campaign against his left-wing government.

The case has put pressure on Sánchez’s minority coalition government, with the main opposition Popular Party (PP) calling on Sánchez to resign.

The only time a sitting Spanish prime minister has testified in a judicial case was in 2017 when Mariano Rajoy was summoned in a graft case that led to the conviction of several members of his party, the PP.

SHOW COMMENTS