Aragonès says that "now" is the time to commit Sánchez to a referendum: "We must use this force"

He points out that the amnesty guarantees a negotiation of equals and sees it as inevitable "no matter how many people speak out against it."

BARCELONA, 26 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, has called for the union of the independence movement to take advantage of the "strength" they have "now" in the Congress of Deputies and obtain from Pedro Sánchez's Government a commitment to a referendum.

"If at any time we have had the strength to do so, it is now. We must use this strength to extract a commitment from Sánchez so that Catalonia votes," he proclaimed this Tuesday in his speech in the General Policy Debate (DPG) in the Parliament, which lasted about two hours and in which he insisted that the amnesty will be an "inevitable" reality.

Aragonès has highlighted that the pro-independence deputies of Congress have the key to governability, which is why he has called for taking advantage of the opportunity from the union: "I am prepared and I will not spare any efforts. The resolution of the conflict requires Catalonia to vote."

He considers that it would be a "serious mistake" not to take advantage of that strength, and has warned that, after the disappearance of Ciudadanos del Congreso, there is no alternative majority that does not include the pro-independence deputies.

In this sense, Aragonès has urged the acting president of the Government and PSOE candidate for re-election, Pedro Sánchez, to establish the bases for a referendum in Catalonia that allows Catalans to vote on independence.

He has asked Sánchez for "courage and determination" to reach a compromise throughout the next legislature, and has assured that in Catalonia there is not a problem of coexistence or fit, but of sovereignty.

Aragonès has celebrated that Junts is joining the path of negotiation, "a very difficult path" on which the Government has opted for four years and with which they have managed to get the State to recognize that there is a conflict in Catalonia, he said. .

He has stated that the amnesty serves to guarantee a negotiation of equals, and "it will happen, no matter how many people are outraged" and demonstrate against it, he said in reference to the PP act this Sunday.

The president has placed the amnesty as an essential commitment for the investiture, but has warned that the bases for voting in a referendum are "the condition that must be put on the table."

He recalled that precisely a year ago, in the 2022 DPG, he opted for a clarity agreement that would establish the "rules of the game" so that the Catalans could decide the political future of Catalonia, like Scotland, Quebec or Ireland.

Aragonès has advanced that the Academic Council appointed by the Government for the clarity agreement will soon present its conclusions, a "starting point" for debate.

Furthermore, he has defended that a referendum is a democratic tool and "the maximum legitimacy" to count on everyone and achieve a result that has recognition.

"We are willing to accept the citizens' decision. We are willing to win a referendum, but we are also willing to lose it if the citizens of Catalonia decide so. Because we are democrats," he added.