Catalonia Today, June 22, 2006 | Goodbye, Maragall

Out goes Pasqual Maragall and in comes José Montilla. The Mas-Zapatero agreement claims another political victim. The script of La Moncloa has fulfilled its purpose, down to the last detail. First ERC was expelled from the government with the excuse of the Estatut referendum, now it's the president’s turn. Maragall has thrown in the towel, under pressure from the parties that signed the Tinell agreement –beginning with the PSC. The internal tensions are fierce: the fury of the pro-Maragall sectors upsets the internal balance: the most pro-Catalan sectors have to put up with Montilla, the antithesis of charisma, who utterly failed to achieve a high socialist turnout for last Sunday's referendum. One important question remains – if Montilla takes over from Maragall, will it be PSC's death warrant? Or will Montilla successfully create a new tripartite? That is the nub of the matter. Will Montilla do Zapatero’s bidding and carry on pushing the idea behind the Mas agreement, or will Catalan socialists manage to prevent the political suicide represented by sucursalisme towards Ferraz and La Moncloa? Adeu, Maragall. Welcome to sociovergència.

(Article de Saül Gordillo al setmanari Catalonia Today, 22 de juny de 2006, pàgina 3.)