Catalan president calls for pro-indy unity as king set to consult parties on new government

Acting prime minister Pedro Sánchez may have overcome the first post-general election hurdle after succeeding in having a Socialist voted congressional speaker on Thursday, but his path to remaining in power still depends on his unpredictable relationship with the Catalan pro-independence parties.

The left-wing unionist's party, the second-most voted on July 23, now has a slight edge over the conservative People's Party after securing last-minute support from Esquerra Republicana and Junts per Catalunya for Congress bureau president Francina Armengol, but Sánchez will have to continue to forge deals with them if he wishes to form a new minority government. 

And, only days before King Felipe VI is set to consult with parties about forming a new government, both Esquerra and Junts have once again made clear their support for Armengol, which came in exchange for concessions such as speaking Catalan in Congress and a request to do so in EU institutions, does not equate support for a minority Socialist executive.  

For one, Catalan president Pere Aragonès of Esquerra said on Friday that he believed negotiations would be "long and complex." 

Sánchez's investiture is "neither closer nor further" from happening after Thursday's deals, he said while at an event at the Red Cross headquarters in Sabadell, not far from Barcelona. 

According to him, a common pro-independence front with Junts per Catalunya would lead to "more positive results" as "when everyone is involved, the agreements are better."

Similarly, in an interview with Rac1 radio station, Esquerra MP Teresa Jordà called for cooperation with Junts, and said key issues such as an amnesty for pro-independence politicians and activists, authority over the Rodalies train network, and the fiscal deficit would be critical to voting for a minority Socialist government.

The possibility of an amnesty was mentioned in the first statement the party sent to the press on Thursday morning after agreeing to vote for Armengol, but was retracted in subsequent documents. 

Hardline pro-independence Junts, meanwhile, has also repeatedly stated it will not "make Sánchez prime minister in exchange for nothing."

And like Esquerra, they have decided against attending the first round of talks the king will be holding next week to determine whether any one party or parties can form a government. 

"If what he wants is to ask us if our votes will be for [the People's Party's] Feijóo or for Pedro Sánchez, I can already tell you that directly, no. Not today," Junts MP Míriam Nogueras told the Catalan News Agency (ACN).