The Congresswoman named the Catalan political prisoners in her speech from the chamber floor and demanded the immediate release of Esquerra’s leader Oriol Junqueras and the annulment of his sentence

During the investiture session to elect a new Spanish government, Esquerra Congresswoman Montse Bassa denounced that the PSOE had been "an accomplice in the repression of our people and in the criminalization of protest and of our youth," as well as endorsing "a false account of violence in Catalonia." Regardless, she declared that "despite our ire and with great scepticism," Esquerra Republicana would abstain "in order to give dialogue a chance".

We want to build an independent Catalan Republic from cordiality with Spain and not from confrontation.

Montse Bassa MP of Esquerra Republicana

In her speech in the investiture debate, Ms Bassa evoked the political prisoners and called for the immediate release of Oriol Junqueras, the leader of Esquerra Republicana, and the annulment of the sentences handed down to the political prisoners. She explained that when she visits her sister Dolors, Carme Forcadell and other political prisoners, they always remind her that: "We want to build an independent Catalan Republic from cordiality with Spain and not from confrontation." "We believe in peace and in the word, in the face of violence and hatred," she underlined.

The Republican congresswoman recalled "the pain, anger and powerlessness" that it has caused the families of the political prisoners" and also many of the people who, through dignity, continue to mobilize." "I know half of the chamber is happy about our pain and they want to make it even greater. That sentiment defines their wretchedness and their concept for democracy," she said, and added: "The important question is, where is the [Spanish Socialist] PSOE now?"

Bassa recalled that Carme Forcadell, the former Speaker of the Parliament of Catalonia unjustly imprisoned, always vindicates the need for empathy. "If we want to resolve the political conflict, and we want the Negotiating and Dialogue Table to be fruitful, we will need this empathy."

Esquerra Republicana’s 13 members of congress thus critically abstained in the vote for the inauguration of Pedro Sánchez as the Primer Minister of the Spanish Government, facilitating the formation of a new executive as an act of responsibility and dialogue. Abstention was agreed with the PSOE after Esquerra obtained their commitment to establish a negotiating table between the Spanish and Catalan governments, which is to facilitate a solution to the conflict to be endorsed in suffrage by the citizens of Catalonia.