Status: 05/17/2021 11:40 AM
Three months after the regional elections in Catalonia, the left and conservative liberals have agreed to a coalition after difficult negotiations. Both sides defend the independence of Catalonia from Spain.
In the Spanish conflict zone in Catalonia, the two largest separatist parties have essentially agreed on a coalition government more than three months after the regional elections. This was announced by representatives of the Egyptian Left Party ERC and the liberal conservative JuntsxCat, as reported in “La Vanguardia” and “El País”.
The struggle for independence
Pere Aragonès (ERC) should be the new regional head of government. He had already tried to be elected Prime Minister in March, but failed twice. With the agreement of the parties, he can now be elected.
Together with the CUP radical left, the separatists won the absolute majority of votes in the February 14 elections and together they took 74 of the 135 seats in Parliament in Barcelona. The three parties support the independence of the economically strong region in northeastern Spain. The central government in Madrid rejects this.
The population of Catalonia is divided into roughly equal camps for and against secession from Spain. With this agreement, the two sides avoided holding further new elections, which were necessary if there was no deal by May 26.
Sorry for the long negotiations
The future government partners, who had already formed a coalition in the previous legislative period, apologized for the long time it took to form the government. She added in a statement that she had promised to form a government “that will seek to restore the confidence of the citizens of Catalonia.”
After an illegal independence referendum, Catalonia was placed under coercive administration by the central government in 2017. The then regional head of government, Carles Puigdemont, fled to Belgium. Several of his fellow activists at the time were sentenced to long prison terms. There is no solution in sight to the dispute to regain independence that was lost after 1714.
With information from Reinhard Spiegelhauer, ARD Studio Madrid
