In front of an overflowing room, the former mayor Manuela Carmena has been in charge of presenting the president

this Wednesday in Madrid

of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, protagonist of an event organized by the Siglo XXI club. During his conference, the Catalan leader took stock of his management at the head of the Generalitat and has influenced the claim of his Government to achieve the "independence" of Catalonia. The ERC leader has put aside the debate about when the dialogue table on the territorial political problem will be held to expressly ask La Moncloa for a self-determination consultation. “The referendum is necessary. We must dare to propose our proposal to the citizens of Catalonia. Citizens are willing to accept the result of the ballot box. Catalonia's right to self-determination is inevitable ”, Aragonès stressed at the event, which was also attended by the Minister Spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, and the Minister of Universities,Joan Subirats.

Aragonès has started his speech by presenting himself as a Republican, pro-independence and leftist president. “We cannot perpetuate the resolution of the conflict. It is time to abandon speculation and offer certainty to the public. We are going to have a board meeting earlier this year, but there must be content to move forward. The important thing is that there is a political proposal ”, reiterated the

. Government sources and ERC had anticipated that it makes no sense to set a date for the dialogue table before having agreed on a minimum content. The Catalan leader has reiterated that the table will be convened "at the beginning of this year", and has reaffirmed his intention to advance the talks. "We bet on the negotiation table, we will continue to bet on our project, our commitment is clear on the negotiation table," said Aragonès, who has arrived at the event held in Madrid escorted by Carmena and Rodríguez in the face of great expectation and numerous media outlets. communication.

The positions between the Government of Pedro Sánchez and that of Aragorès remain very far apart. One of the issues that was agreed in the last meeting is that they would work discreetly to find agreements and there would only be public meetings when they had an agreed content that could be made public. In his address in Madrid, the

He has conditioned any negotiation on progress in that self-determination, and has demanded not to delay the achievement of specific objectives any longer, criticizing that the debate focuses, in his opinion, on when they will or will not see each other. “Catalonia will always be on the side of any democratic front against the extreme right, but at the same time we cannot delay the political situation to advance. This is a challenge from the Spanish left. There will hardly be a second chance ”, he has sentenced.

Despite the fact that the minister spokesperson has been present at the event, both the Government and ERC have assured that Aragonès and Rodríguez have only greeted each other, and that nothing has been advanced on the date of the dialogue table. The Executive has not wanted to enter to assess the words of Aragonès. Catalan Government sources have clarified, however, that they will not rise from the dialogue table even if their claim in relation to the holding of a self-determination referendum is not heard before the end of Pedro Sánchez's term. Another question is what will happen after the general elections in the event of the need to obtain support for a new investiture. In the case of Aragonès' mandate, the CUP last year conditioned its support to the holding of the referendum.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, insisted this Monday during an interview on Cadena SER that he is committed to dialogue in Catalonia, although without "binding" to a date for the meeting. "It will take place, it will be held, but right now the institutions are in something much more important for citizens, such as the health emergency," he settled. What does have a date is the State-Generalitat Bilateral Commission - in charge of studying transfers of powers and analyzing breaches, among other aspects -, which will be carried out within the established time, at the end of this month. This year the Generalitat has the rotating presidency and, with it, the power to convene the meeting. This week, technical work is expected to begin to close the agenda.

The event in which Aragonès has participated was also attended by political leaders such as his party partner and ERC spokesperson in Congress Gabriel Rufián.

Carmena has revealed that he did not know Aragonès until yesterday, whom he described as a "man of dialogue."

Labour reform

ERC wanted to detach, at the event held in Madrid, the dialogue table from its position on the labor reform. The "no" to its validation, for the moment, is immovable. Catalan Executive sources insist that they will not support the law if no amendments are introduced. The Aragonès party does not agree with the maximums introduced in the norm, despite the fact that the decree law has been approved by all social agents. "One thing is our role as Republicans and another is our role in defense of the workers," they have specified since the formation. For now there is no more express request than to expand, in his opinion, the rights not protected by the labor reform.

The

has also made a review of the management of the Generalitat in front of the covid-19, and has praised the role that the "welfare state" has played in the health crisis.

“The pandemic has been a defeat for individualistic ideologies.

The objective is to generate wealth to distribute opportunities ”, has sentenced Aragonès.