Catalonia Today, October 5, 2006 | No one supports the tripartite anymore

The Tinell agreement between PSC, ERC and ICV-EUiA, which enabled Pasqual Maragall to become President of the Generalitat, has gone to a better life. But that's not all. Only one of the signatory parties  –ICV-EUiA– is calling for another pro-Catalan independence, left-wing government. Both PSC and ERC want to distance themselves, 30 days from elections, from the coalition that generated so many headaches and instability, in comparison with the 23 years of Jordi Pujol's CiU governments. The Socialists want to distance themselves from their old pro-independence partners, while the latter are once more adopting a posture of equidistance. ERC is beginning to woo CiU, which is the favourite in all the election polls. There is a possibility of a nationalist coalition between CiU and ERC, but it would help the PP to bump up the pro-Spain vote. The idea of a largescale CiU-PSC coalition is not attractive, so far, to the heads of either party, as their voters are eternal rivals. One month away from the elections and everything is up in the air. CiU have the advantage, but it’s one thing to win, and another to take power.

(Article de Saül Gordillo al setmanari Catalonia Today, 5 d'octubre de 2006, pàgina 3.)