A government of regional unity

The El Pi view is that President Armengol has been overwhelmed by the Covid crisis. She should dissolve her government of PSOE, Podemos and Més and replace it with one of regional unity. In suggesting this, El Pi - less strident in its criticisms than the Partido Popular or Vox - is nevertheless reflecting views expressed by other opposition parties. The government should be restructured in order to meet the challenges of the crisis.

There is undoubtedly a sense that Armengol and her government have been overwhelmed. This wasn’t the case during the original state of alarm because the incidence of the virus was very low. The incidence is now the highest in the country. The government’s management - damned if it does, damned if it doesn’t - has not seemed surefooted. Or is it that whatever it does, it has been tainted by the Armengol Bar Hat episode?

But an alternative government comprising all parties? What sort of solution would this be? How conceivable would it be for, for example, Podemos to share government space with Vox? It is inconceivable. All-party consensus? Not a chance. And yet consensus, as the president has said so often, is the mark of government.