The President of the Government of Catalonia announced the call for elections on 12 May in a press conference following the extraordinary Executive Council meeting and the debate in which the parliamentary groups did not support the Budget Bill “in order not to depend on the irresponsibility of those who put party interests ahead of the country”. Aragonès remarked that “politics can only be based on responsibility and ambition” and that we must face the future “with all the strength that the citizens of Catalonia need”. In this regard, he stressed that on 12 May there will be a choice between “conservatives who defend a model of the past” and “those of us who defend a Catalonia that looks to the future”.

The head of the Catalan Executive emphasised that “in the face of the irresponsibility of the political groups that have rejected the budget today, there is a need for national responsibility”. For this reason, Aragonès remarked that “as president of Catalonia, I assume responsibility in the face of the deadlock”.

The President added that the decision to call for elections was made “so that Catalonia can have stronger government to move the country forward and generate even more transformations,” as well as to achieve this “without dependence on the conservatives.”

Pere Aragonès wanted to point out that today “a good budget” was presented to the Catalan Parliament and that the groups that have prevented it from continuing its passage through Parliament “have been very irresponsible”. He also recalled that “red lines and vetoes on all sides” were not against the Government, but rather were “against the interests of the citizens of Catalonia and the public services of the country.”

In this regard, Aragonès explained that “the deadlock between different parties has resulted in the rejection of the budget with the highest resources in the history of the Government of Catalonia,” and he wished to point out that the refusal to approve the budgets has led to “the rejection of one billion euros to combat the severe drought,” as well as “a 10% increase in the education budget”. 

He also referred to the rejection of “an additional 1.4 billion euros for the healthcare system” and “over 1.2 billion euros for housing”.

He also remarked that the submitted budget was “the highest for culture and language in our entire history” and that it meant “more resources for research, development, and innovation” and “over 700 million euros to boost Catalan industry to continue creating quality jobs”. These budgets, “for the first time in the history of the Generalitat, exceeded 1,000 million euros,” he stated.

The President emphasised that his objective was to “complete the term of office”, but he claimed that “the vetoes between the political groups in Parliament prevent the conditions to make this possible”. “Catalonia deserves a complete term,” he concluded.