The new Catalan Government will finally have a Vice President

Barcelona (ACN).- Artur Mas, the new President of the Catalan Government, announced this morning that his government will have a Vice President. He will appoint Joana Ortega for this position. She will be the Minister for Public Administration and Institutional Relations, with the rank of Vice President. Therefore, she may chair cabinet meetings in the absence of Artur Mas and will represent the Catalan Government. Ortega is from the smallest party of the two-party Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU); the Christian-Democrat Party (UDC). Ortega is very close to the UDC’s leader, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, the CiU’s number two. Duran i Lleida will not, in fact, be part of the new Government, but he will be performing some concrete tasks in areas managed by Ortega. Both Ortega and Duran will manage relations between the Catalan Government and the Spanish Government, a key responsibility as regards competence devolution. Duran i Lleida, but not the Vice President, will also have a say in the Catalan foreign relations service, whose activities may be coordinated with those of the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry. Nevertheless, Duran will continue being CiU spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament. With these new responsibilities, his power in negotiations will increase, together with his influence in Madrid and Barcelona. Not only will he continue being the CiU’s man in Madrid, but now the Catalan Government’s too.