In a surprising development, the regional Prime Minister of the Catalan government, Pere Aragonés, has decided to call early elections on May 12, 2024. This decision comes after the Catalan Parliament rejected the budget, which represents a major blow to the Catalan government. His government. As an autonomous region within Spain, Catalonia has witnessed a volatile political scene for decades, and these will be the 14th democratic regional election and will follow regional elections on 14 February 2021.
The 2024 regional budget was rejected with 68 votes opposed From Junts, Vox, Ciudadanos, PP and Commons. Opposition parties accused the government, among other things, of not rejecting the controversial BCN World project to create a large entertainment complex. to 67 votes in favorfrom the ERC, PSC and a dissident Junt representative, budget plans narrowly missed the necessary majority.
the Election announcement It brings an end to a turbulent era that had already begun turbulently in 2021. Then the pandemic created unique circumstances in which a judge blocked the planned postponement of the election. This was the first time since the Second Republic that the ERC had returned to power in Catalonia, but they were unable to complete that term. Incidentally, the Socialist Congress Party won the 2021 elections in Catalonia with approximately 23% of the votes, while the European Constitutional Council received 21% of the votes.
The early elections announced for May 2024 are the result of blocked politics in the Catalan Parliament. The ruling ERC party, with its 33 seats, formed a minority government and clashed more than once with its tolerant partner, Gantz, who had 32 seats. After the split in 2022, regional Prime Minister Aragonés lost his parliamentary majority.
Factions of Puigdemont's exiled party blew up the coalition last year because they could no longer support Aragonés' path toward more pragmatism and dialogue with Madrid. They preferred a tougher approach to the struggle for independence. This made cooperation with ERC impossible.
The ERC was left with few options last year. With the support only of the Catalan Social Democratic Party, governance within the Catalan regime was barely possible. The impasse over the new budget became the straw that broke the camel's back for them to announce new elections.
Currently, opinion polls show no clear winner. Some expect the moderate Revolutionary Reform Party to win, while others believe the powerful separatists in the Junta Party will emerge as the largest party. Either way, it promises to be a fierce campaign in which the issue of independence will once again take center stage. Further stagnation and unrest in Catalonia appears inevitable for now.
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