Mas envisages a minority government if the ERC offers “maximum stability” in Parliament

Barcelona (ACN).- The leader of the centre-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) and President of Catalonia, Artur Mas, has asked the left-wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) to guarantee that he is able to form a “strong, stable and serious” government. Conceding for the first time that a coalition government “won’t be possible”, Mas urged the ERC to offer “maximum stability” in the Parliament. The CiU leader envisages a minority government, but only with “permanent” parliamentary support on important issues. In fact, he thinks a “common political program” is feasible “even if there is no formal coalition”.

The Catalan President, Artur Mas, wants to form a strong government to lead the country in the next few years with “maximum stability”. Speaking for the first time as President since the start of the negotiations, Mas said he doesn’t regret calling an early election, despite his party losing 12 seats and his majority being now dependent on other political parties such as the ERC.

Mas said his “ideal scenario” would be a coalition government with the ERC, but admitted that was unlikely. “They don’t want to form a coalition, it is a legitimate stance and they cannot be forced to do something”, he argued in a press conference in Catalonia. However, Mas said that without “permanent support” by the ERC in Parliament, the government “won’t be able to perform its tasks”.

Those tasks mainly include putting the house in order by dealing with the deficit and initiating the process for the introduction of an independence referendum. The Catalan leader described the agreement he is looking to achieve with the leader of the opposition: “A clear approach, with no secret aces up their sleeve, putting all the cards on the table”, said Mas. The CiU leader asked for “a common program” even if there is no coalition. “Everyone should make a contribution and everyone should make sacrifice”, added Mas, stating that the most important issue is to achieve a strong “mutual trust”. “These are the basic conditions” for guaranteeing a strong government, he said.

Mas said the governability of Catalonia is now in hand of “at least two parties”, the CiU and the ERC, but “maybe more”. In fact, the Catalan President has not ruled out an agreement with the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), although his first choice is the party lead by Oriol Junqueras. Mas hoped the negotiations with the ERC would have a positive result. “My commitment is for them to be successful. I will do my best for this to conclude positively”, he argued.

A message to Spain

During his press conference, Artur Mas also asked Spain to see the recent electoral results as a sign that the Catalan society is ready for a referendum. Mas urged Mariano Rajoy’s conservative government to consider its position on Catalonia’s right to self-determination, currently forbidden by the Spanish constitution. Despite losing 12 seats on Sunday, Mas pointed out that the Spanish unionists, lead by the PP and Ciutadans, “only have 28 out of 135 seats” in the Catalan Parliament.