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Pelegrí has already been a Minister of the Catalan Government, but for Public Administration (2002-2003). Now, Pelegrí becomes the new Catalan Minister for Agriculture, Stockbreeding, Fishing and Environment. In his early years in politics, in the 1990s, he worked on environmental issues. He is discrete and loyal to the Christian Democrat leader, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida.

The Vice President and the Ministers of the new Catalan Government were sworn into office at noon. The first Government meeting took place just afterwards to appoint most of the Deputy Ministers. In the afternoon, the former Vice President and Ministers switched portfolios with the new appointees. The Left-Wing Government coalition is, from today, officially over. The new President, Artur Mas, promises an efficient and austere Government, with experienced members.

Mas-Colell was a professor at Berkeley and Harvard universities. Most recently, he chaired the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and was a professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is a specialist in microeconomics and some of his publications are world-renowned references on the subject. Mas-Colell had already been Minister of the Catalan Government between 1999 and 2003, in charge of universities. Now he will be Minister for the Economy, Budget and Universities, stressing the importance of innovation and research.

Ortega will be in charge of public administration staff and structures, as well as the relations between the Catalan Government and the Spanish State’s powers. She will be the first woman to hold the office of Vice President. She defends traditional family values and promotes women’s talent.

Mas will appoint the Christian Democrat Joana Ortega as the Catalan Vice President. She will be in charge of the public administration as well as institutional relations, such as Catalon Government's relations with the Spanish State. She will share the latter responsibilities with her party leader, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, the current Spokesperson of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) in the Spanish Parliament.

Catalonia has a new President. Artur Mas, the leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), becomes the 129th President of the Catalan Government. The swearing-in ceremony takes place this morning at the Generalitat Palace, the seat of the Government. Mas is sworn into office in an institutional ceremony, followed by a reception. The new Catalan Ministers were announced this afternoon and will take office on Wednesday, when the new Government will meet for the first time.

Artur Mas has finally decided upon the composition of his government. Mas waited to swear office and officially become President of the Catalan Government to make public his ministers’ names. Harvard and Berkeley professor Andreu Mas-Colell will be the Economy and Universities Minister. ESADE professor and international consultant, Francesc Xavier Mena will be in charge of Business and Employment. Socialist Ferran Mascarell accepted Mas’ offer to become the next Culture Minister. The Christian-Democrats hold the Vice Presidency and responsibilities on Public Administration, Relations with Spain, Agriculture and the Environment.

Finally, after having tried in 2003 and 2006, Artur Mas is invested President of the Catalan Government. The economist has been working in the public sector since 1982. He was a type of Catalan Prime Minister between 2001 and 2003, in the last government of the CiU’s historic leader Jordi Pujol. In fact, Pujol elected Mas as his successor, an image that Mas finally abandoned. During these 7 years leading the opposition, Mas built his own profile and is perceived as a serious, efficient and moderate politician.

The leader of the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), is invested President of the Catalan Government by the Catalan Parliament. He will take office next Monday, the 27th of December. The members of his government have not been announced yet. Mas was invested by votes from CiU MPs and the abstention from the Catalan Socialist Party’s MPs.

The Catalan Government approved the continued operation of short distance trains in the Barcelona metropolitan area and regional trains within Catalonia by the public Spanish train operator Renfe. Short-distance trains have been a responsibility of the Catalan Government since the 1st of January of 2010. Regional trains will be transferred on the first day of 2011. The train service ownership will thus change, but the service provider will continue being Renfe.

The second most important person within the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, Convergència i Unió (CiU), will not form part of the new Catalan Government. Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida will remain in Madrid as the CiU’s spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament. He will be the Catalan Government’s main negotiator with the Spanish Prime Minister, Zapatero. The new Catalan Parliament resulting from the 28th of November elections will be formed next Thursday and the 129th Catalan President will very likely be elected before Christmas.

The 7 years of the Left-Wing 3-party coalition may end on Sunday and CiU may once again rule the Catalan Government. Spain is looking carefully at these elections: the Socialists may collapse, the People’s Party may win seats thanks to its anti-immigration speech, and if CiU wins, they could help Zapatero to pass economic reforms. Europe should look at these elections: the future of the Euro is in Zapatero’s hands, but Zapatero may be in CiU’s. The campaign finished at midnight on Friday. Saturday is the “reflexion day”, when campaigning is forbidden. Sunday the 28th of November is Election Day. The parties’ candidates with Parliamentary representation presented their projects to CNA for a foreign audience.

Convergència i Unió (CiU) will very likely win the elections and rule the Catalan Government. It is already the first party in the Catalan Parliament, with 48 seats (out of 135), and polls predict it could get a result just below the absolute majority, with a range from 59 to 65 seats. CiU is a coalition of 2 parties: a Liberal and a Christian-Democratic. In the last years, CiU has openly defended Catalonia’s right to self-determination and, in this campaign, CiU’s main proposal is to negotiate a special economic agreement for fiscal redistribution with the Spanish Government, in line with the Basque Country’s.

The ERC is going through an inflexion. It was part of the Left-Wing 3-party coalition that ruled the Catalan Government for the last 7 years. After the trimming of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy by the Spanish Constitutional Court, the ERC is now pushing for an independence referendum for the next term. In these elections, they risk losing many seats according to the polls, possibly going back to their 1990s figures and losing their status as the 3rd Catalan party. In addition they are running with a new leader, Joan Puigcercós.

The professor of business direction and administration for IESE, Pedro Nueno, assures that conversations between the Catalan Government and the Chinese auto manufacturer Chery are “fully underway”.