Despite the poor results of the pro-independence parties, far short of an absolute majority in Parliament, Junts believes it has a chance of governing. If this Sunday, former president Carles Puigdemont already suggested that he would make Pedro Sánchez’s dependence on JxCat’s seven deputies in Congress count, this Monday he has gone a step further and announced that he will try to opt for the investiture. “I can articulate a larger majority than that of [Salvador] Illa”, he said at a press conference in Argelers, saying that no possible sum reaches the 68 seats of the absolute majority and that everything will be decided in a second round, where only more votes in favour than against the candidate are required.
Puigdemont calculates that his investiture could win 55 seats, if he obtains the support of ERC, and even reach 59 with the CUP, always leaving out the two representatives of the pro-independence extreme right of Aliança Catalana. A sum that he acknowledges “would not be absolute”, but “coherent and broad”, which would allow him to “continue to stand up to Madrid”, would be “clearly of Catalan obedience” and would avoid a repeat election in the autumn.
On the other hand, Puigdemont has pointed out that the PSC, despite its clear victory with 42 MPs, can only rise to 48 with the six from the Comuns. A figure in which he leaves out the PP and Vox, as he warns that if Illa receives their votes actively or passively – either with a favourable vote or with an abstention – he will withdraw his support for Sánchez and dynamite the Spanish legislature.
