The new Catalan government is getting underway. At an event in the Palau de la Generalitat, President Salvador Illa introduced his team of ministers, whom he thanked for accepting their posts. Illa considers their arrival as “a change of era” to face the “third great transformation of Catalonia.”
“We will assume the response at all times seeking the common good and the defence of Catalonia as the only criteria for action,” Illa defended, who has valued the “common denominators” of his 16 councillors, such as their “vocation for public service”, their “accredited professional careers” or their “social democratic values”.
His main objective, Illa insisted, is to “unite” the Catalans “respecting the plurality of Catalonia.” He then called the members of his new Government one by one to ask them the following question: “Do you promise to faithfully fulfill, in accordance with the law, the obligations of the position you assume in the service of Catalonia and with loyalty to the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia?”
This Monday marked the first day of Salvador Illa’s new government as president of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Over the weekend, the people who will accompany the leader of the PSC in this political cycle have been revealed, the main objective of which is to make the new system of regional financing that they agreed with ERC to facilitate his investiture fit together.
The new Government will have a plural profile, with people who Salvador Illa trusts the most, but with prominent names from CiU, Junts and ERC who bring this Executive closer to the centre. In total, there will be 16 ministries, including, among others, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, with the current spokesperson for the PSC in the Parliament, Alícia Romero, leading the management of this financing model; as well as the appointment of Miquel Sàmper, former Minister of the Interior with Quim Torra, as Minister of Business and Employment.
When he took office, Illa promised to integrate “all Catalans” into his mandate, a promise that he has begun to fulfil with these appointments. In addition to Sàmper, we must add Ramon Espadaler, former leader of CiU who has been collaborating with the PSC for years; or Sonia Hernández, ERC deputy, director of Cultural Heritage during Pere Aragonès’ mandate.
These appointments did not go down well in Junts, with Jordi Turull, the party’s secretary general, questioning on social media that there are “politicians who play the stock market at every moment and side with whoever they think is more valuable.” “They are not motivated by political convictions. And in this Government there are more than one and two,” he says. To this message we must add that of the former minister Miquel Buch, who shared a photograph of the painting ‘The Kiss of Judas’ on his social media.
Also particularly relevant is the appointment of Ferran Pedret as the new president of the PSC in the Catalan Parliament, who was in charge of making the PSC intervention in the investiture debate of Illa. Within the party, he holds the position of secretary of the Area of Improvement of Self-Government and Federal Action of the Catalan socialists.
The 16 chosen by Illa
These will be the names of the 16 new ministers of the Generalitat, as confirmed by laSexta, who will take possession of their posts this Monday:
- Advisor to the Presidency – Albert Dalmau
- Minister of Interior and Security – Núria Parlon
- Minister of Economy and Finance – Alícia Romero
- Business and Work Councilor – Miquel Sàmper
- Councillor for Social Rights and Inclusion – Mónica Martínez Bravo
- Minister of Agriculture – Óscar Ordeig Molist
- Councilor for Equality and Feminism – Eva Menor
- Minister of Education – Esther Niubó
- Health Minister – Olga Pané
- Minister of Justice – Ramon Espadaler
- Regional Minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition and spokesperson – Silvia Paneque
- Sports Councilor – Berni Álvarez
- Linguistic Policy Advisor – Fransesc Xavier Vila
- Culture Councilor – Sonia Hernández
- Minister of the European Union and Foreign Affairs – Jaume Duch
- Minister for Research and Universities – Núria Montserrat
In total, 16 ministerial positions, two more than the Government of Aragonès, with nine women and seven men, in an Executive without vice-presidencies. After the signing of their appointment and its publication in the Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia, the ministers will take possession of their positions at an institutional event in the Sant Jordi Hall of the Palau de la Generalitat.
After the new ministers take the oath of office, Illa will appear publicly to kick off his government. In fact, he could preside over his first executive meeting this Tuesday. All this after a few turbulent days marked by Carles Puigdemont’s return to Spain and his subsequent escape.
From there, as he promised in his inaugural speech, Illa must “unite and serve” the Catalans, trying to fulfil his “main concern”: “that everyone feels represented.” Illa seeks to leave behind “divisive, demagogic and populist approaches” in a plural Government that aspires to “govern for everyone.”
