Together for Catalonia He earned, from the first stages of the legislature, the title of “most unstable ally” of the Government. First, due to the ideological differences that those of Miriam Nogueras with the Executive parties and, second, because in several negotiations it was demonstrated that Junts was capable of knock down important initiatives. The highlight was the seasonal rental law promoted by Sumar and which post-convergent torpedoed informing those of Yolanda Diaz three minutes before the vote.
At that time, important voices within the Junts group in the Congress of Deputies stated that the Government “was understanding what the playing field of the legislature.” They always insisted that they are not part of “any bloc” and that, therefore, their support for any initiative had to come from a prior negotiation. If not, they came to say, the outcome was going to be the same as that of seasonal rentals.
And something does seem to have changed, in light of how the negotiation of the tax reform approved in the Lower House this Thursday has developed. The two parties with which the Government would have first agreed on the terms of the package were the two parliamentary allies it has on the right: Together and Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). The Executive denies it, but all the sources consulted among its allies agree with that version. CKD, EH Bildu, Can either BNG They criticize it very harshly, since the agreements that are reached first often set the course, the limits and the negotiation margins.
However, if the Government could think that quickly obtaining the “yes” from Junts would ensure a peaceful and calm path, they have been able to verify that this is not the case. Broadly speaking, the agreement reached by the Ministry of Finance with those of Nogueras was based on a modification of the banking tax and on drop the energy one. The leftist formations, from the first moment, made it clear that they were going to stand with the second element.
And they did it. He November 11when it was planned that the Finance Commission decided which fiscal package was finally debated and voted on in the plenary session – all laws first go through the parliamentary committees – ERC, EH Bildu and BNG stopped the process because, they warned, if their vote was maintained as it was, his vote was going to be againstwhich would leave the fiscal package previously negotiated between the Government, PNV and Junts kept in a drawer. The negotiations continued and were postponed until Thursday, the 14th. But even then the necessary conditions were not met to reach the agreement and it was postponed again to monday 18.
Weeks ago, when Junts shot down Sumar’s bill to limit seasonal rentals and when the Government withdrew the spending ceiling vote (previous step of the Budgets) because it did not have the votes of the post-convergents, members of CKD They said in public that if negotiations were opened, was open “for everyone” ―visibly upset by the Government’s loose attitude towards Junts― and privately hinted that their relationship with the Government could harden. “Our votes are not guaranteed either.“, they slipped.
Sources from the Executive itself recognized then that the extreme competition between the two Catalan independence parties complicated negotiations.
In the conversations regarding the fiscal package, which has focused much of the activity of the Government and its allies this week, ERC has played a central role. Also EH Bildu, BNG and, to a greater extent, Can. The session of the Finance Commission on Monday, the 18th, was historic due to its duration. eight hourswhen the normal thing would have been two or, at most, three. The deputies left Congress, after much negotiation, around one in the morning. They did it, yes, with an agreed text and with a commitment on the part of the Executive that would extend the tax on energy companies.
By pressing to reach this pact, ERC, EH Bildu and BNG demonstrated to the Executive that they also know sell your votes dearly and that the Government’s negotiating position cannot be that of securing the votes of Junts and trusting that the most stable allies they will swallow what was agreed and will settle for satellite agreements. The plenary session on Thursday, the 21st, therefore, was reached with a text that gathered almost all the necessary support. was missing Canwho wanted more guarantees about the tax on energy companies. He did not want to enter into the agreement signed by PSOE, ERC, EH Bildu and BNG because they believed that he could remain in wet papertaking into account that an extension like the one agreed would be necessary to get ahead of the Junts votes.
Thus, the final stretch of the negotiations was carried out by Can. Until a few hours before the vote, those of Ione Belarra They were closer to no than yes. However, an agonizing agreement with which they managed to get the PSOE to commit to leading a negotiation tablewith Junts participating in it, to promote a permanent tax on energy companies was the element that unstuck things. The vote went ahead.
“This exercise has been very important for rebalance the scales and so that the votes of the left gain weight in this legislature,” reflects a relevant figure of the purples. “We have also shown that Together is not immovable“. He refers to the fact that, a few weeks ago, it seemed impossible for the post-convergents agreed to sit at a table to negotiate a possible tax on energy companies and, finally, according to the agreement signed by the PSOEthey are going to do it. Among the left, in any case, the fact that Podemos has waged war on its own and not in conjunction with ERC, EH Bildu and BNG has raised some eyebrows.
Sudoku, advanced level
In the halls of Congress these days the word “sudoku“to define the adjustment that the Government has had to make to carry out the fiscal package. Sánchez’s allies, with strategies in many cases opposite and with particular struggles (ERC-Junts, EH Bildu-PNV or Sumar- Podemos) , have greatly strained the seams of the investiture majority and have left the Government in a complex negotiating position. The feeling when the fiscal package was approved was practically that of having saved a match ball.
On the one hand, the left has sent a clear message. They are not satisfied with the role of friendly allies and insist that “the Government must negotiate with them beforethan with Junts and PNV”. However, the strategy followed by the Government with those of Nogueras in this case has been profitable. The sudoku has gone well and the moderate success of the tax reform – not as ambitious as intended – calms the waters of the legislature.
But it has also served the parliamentary groups to take the Executive’s measure regarding the budget negotiation, a sudoku, in this case, advanced level. Several sources consulted acknowledge that having carried out the reform facilitates the path of the Budgets, but, at the same time, the PSOE will have to work more carefully on parliamentary balance than on this occasion, even with its own government partner, Addwhich has seen how the socialists broke several points of their own fiscal agreement. The devilish arithmetic makes almost any strategy deficient. Sánchez has the challenge of giving each of his partners enough to gain their support, but not so much as to scare away the rest.
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