The PSOE is urgently seeking a negotiator with Junts to replace Cerdán.

Pedro Sánchez is scrambling to find a negotiator with Junts following the forced resignation of Santos Cerdán for his involvement in the alleged rigging of public works contracts in exchange for bribes . The search is urgent, as the Catalan party has demanded that the PSOE not delay the appointment and that it be someone removed from Catalan politics.

The talks between the Socialists and the Nationalists do not end with the Constitutional Court's ruling on the amnesty; there are still several pending negotiations. The problem facing the Prime Minister and Secretary General of the PSOE is that not just any name will do for dialogue with his investiture partners. Sánchez must appoint a person of his utmost confidence, but there are ministers who are already written off for this role. This is the case with the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, who is not considered by the Catalan party as a valid interlocutor.

The Socialist general secretary has not given any clues about the names he has in mind to recompose his team, although some voices speculate that Montse Mínguez could occupy a more senior position in the future executive. Mínguez, the PSOE's Secretary of Labor and a PSC member, is overseeing the transition in the interim collegiate organizational secretariat appointed by Sánchez, along with the party's president, Cristina Narbona; the manager, Ana María Fuentes; and the secretary of democratic action and transparency, Borja Cabezón.

The former secretary of organization had managed to forge a special complicity with the nationalists

But Mínguez doesn't have Junts' approval to take Cerdán's place as chief negotiator with Junts. The Catalan party doesn't agree with the idea that a PSC leader, close to the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, would take the reins of talks with Puigdemont, Jordi Turull, Miriam Nogueras, and other nationalist leaders.

Junts and the PSC are fierce political rivals in Catalonia, a rivalry that also extends to Congress, which is why Junts prefers a negotiator outside the Catalan Socialists. The controversy between the two parties has reached some flashpoints, such as the moment when, on the eve of the pardons, Illa announced that the central government was about to learn about the pardon granted to the leaders of the independence process . The revelation angered Junts.

Replacing Cerdán will not be easy for Sánchez. The man under investigation by the Supreme Court had managed to forge a special rapport with the Junts leaders since the June 23 elections. The former PSOE organizational secretary traveled to Brussels and Switzerland to certify various agreements and to resolve some tense moments, such as the days in February when Junts urged Sánchez to raise a vote of confidence. Cerdán's discreet efforts over these two years helped him forge a special closeness with Puigdemont and even with Turrull, which, on occasion, went beyond the political and entered the personal realm.

The PSOE's relationship with Junts since the investiture has also featured José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The former president has emerged at key moments, such as the tax negotiations at the end of last year, although he has always maintained a certain distance. The reason for his presence is the relationship of trust he also managed to forge with Puigdemont during the toughest moments of the independence process . However, it is not anticipated that he will become the new chief negotiator with Junts.

The PSOE and Junts are holding various negotiations. Some are moving forward, others are blocked. The Catalan nationalists' position is to demand the delegation of various powers to the Generalitat, such as immigration and media regulation. Junts was the first party to go to the Moncloa Palace to put forward anti-corruption proposals after the Cerdán case broke out, and has not at any point considered supporting a vote of no confidence.