Relief in the Government. Yesterday, Moncloa and Ferraz had all their attention focused on Brussels, at the meeting of the hard core of Junts. An appointment set strategically only 24 hours after the call of the Board of the Congress of Deputies to establish position and reaction. The coalition parties – PSOE and Sumar – took a step forward on Thursday in their relationship with the post-convergents, freezing the issue of trust in the Cortes, despite the fact that in the previous one they had assured that they would reject it, and yesterday Carles Puigdemont allowed keep the ball rolling. The former Catalan president threatened to “suspend” all the negotiations that he has open with the socialists, but, immediately afterwards, he demanded the immediate convening of the Swiss table, that is, the forum for dialogue at the highest level that he maintains with the Government. “Nothing breaks,” they congratulate each other, although with caution, in the Executive, where they have already learned that with Puigdemont nothing can be taken for granted.
In Moncloa they do not want to ring the bells, but they do not hide that the current scenario is far from the “rupture” that had been theorized and they claim that they are not at a point of no return or, at least, at a point where which they have not been before. They consider it significant that Puigdemont has demanded that activate the “Swiss route”that is, the forum for dialogue that is developed with international mediation in the transalpine country, because this – they believe – demonstrates their willingness to continue sitting at the negotiating table with the PSOE.
“If we have to talk more, we will talk more,” they resolve, with a certain purpose of amendment. From Sánchez’s Cabinet they ask for “prudence” and “respect” so that the talks reach a successful conclusion. “We are capable of overcoming discrepancies and we are going to do it with Junts,” government sources assure, as a declaration of intent. Other officials consulted by this newspaper opt for a low profile and do not want to abuse optimism: “We are going to continue with the discretion that we always maintain in conversations. When there is an agreement, we will communicate it immediately, as we have always done in all processes.
However, the context is not simple and there are deep discrepancies in some of the folders that are being treated, such as immigration competencies. In fact, in the PSOE they assume that the “Brussels agreement” was founded on the antagonistic positions that separate Junts and the socialists. While Puigdemont complains about non-compliance, the Executive assures that they “comply.” A dialogue of the deaf. «We have a determined will to continue supporting dialogue»they insist from Moncloa in private. In public, the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, stated yesterday that “when we reach agreements, we fulfill those agreements. In the relationship with Junts, some agreements are in the BOE, others are in the process of materializing, others are in the process of negotiation. The Government complies with its agreements and always does so,” he stated, to point out that «when there are discrepancies, our formula is dialogue, the agreement and the effort to bring positions closer together so that we can continue moving forward.
In the Government they assume that they are united by a conjunction of interests with Junts. For now, it is not convenient for any of the parties to break up, because there are no incentives to give way to a government of PP and Vox. A scenario in which Junts would lose the current capacity for influence that it has over national politics and with an executive that would not be so permeable to its demands or to the ultimate culmination of Puigdemont’s greatest interest: the amnesty.