Puigdemont: “If we want to complete our task, the Parliament has to process the budget”

Barcelona (CNA).- Negotiations over the draft budget for 2016 seem to be stuck. This Wednesday, Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont together with Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy, Oriol Junqueras met with radical left pro-independence CUP MPs, Anna Gabriel and Joan Garriga, after the anti-capitalists presented their veto on the budget proposal. Puigdemont refused to withdraw the document and present a new proposal, as CUP has urged the government to do. “If we want to complete our task, the Parliament has to process the budget”, he stated and insisted that is necessary to agree on the numbers in order to move forward. On the other hand, the CUP MPs warned that “it would be nonsense to put the draft to vote because it won’t go any forward” and emphasised that the present proposal leaves “no room for negotiation”.

Puigdemont emphasised that for the Foreign Action Strategy or the Catalan Tax Agency to start working “first, it is necessary to agree on the numbers”. According to sources which are close to the negotiations, neither Puigdemont nor Junqueras intend to withdraw the current draft and present a new one. However, to show CUP the government’s willingness to continue negotiating, the Catalan executive will present a document this Thursday with some points which may be discussed and included in the Accompaniment Law.

CUP insist on their veto

According to CUP, the draft presented last week by Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy, Oriol Junqueras“doesn’t reflect the pro-independence declaration proposal that the Parliament approved on the 9^th of November”and is far from being “an inflection point”. The anti-capitalists called for the budget to be “more ambitious”regarding tax reforms, less “autonomic”and “to include CUP’s proposals, demands and points of view”.

Thus, the radical lefties presented their veto on the current draft and urged Junqueras to present a new proposal which would meet the anti-capitalists requirements. CUP asked to meet with Puigdemont and Junqueras this Wednesday and during the meeting they reaffirmed their position. CUP MPs Anna Gabriel and Joan Garriga insisted that “the present draft “leaves no room for negotiation”and that they will not waive their veto. “It would be nonsense to put the draft to vote because it won’t go any forward” assured CUP in a communiqué.