Puigdemont presents his pro-independence candidacy for the Catalan elections

7 months ago 35

Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, of the right-wing separatist party Junts per Catalunya (JxCat, Together for Catalonia), will run in the snap regional elections on 12 May on a multi-formation platform which combines his name with that of his pro-independence formation: “Junts + Puigdemont per Catalunya”.

Puigdemont, who has been in self-imposed exile in Belgium since the 2017 secessionist attempt in Catalonia, will lead a list whose base is JxCat but that is open to other Catalan separatist groups and also to independent profiles, the party said.

“The will (of JxCat) is to offer a list that allows us to face this new stage by incorporating profiles and support from different sectors, to recover the strength of unity and restore citizens’ confidence in Catalan institutions”, the party said in a statement on Wednesday, Euractiv’s partner EFE reported.

Puigdemont recently offered his left-wing separatist rival, the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), to run in the Catalan elections on a joint list, but the ERC, which currently sits in the regional government of Catalonia, rejected his offer.

Following the ERC’s refusal, Puigdemont brought together seven close separatist formations in Perpignan, France, to show that his candidacy would go “beyond the acronym” of his party, El Periódico de Catalunya reported.

The small separatist parties that will be on Puigdemont’s list have signed a pact known as the “Vernet Agreement“, in which they commit to following the guidelines of JxCat and its pro-independence ideological postulates.

According to the latest polls, Salvador Illa, the Socialist Party of Catalonia’s (PSC-PSOE) candidate and former health minister, is in the lead, while JxCat and ERC are neck and neck for second place.

Both JxCat and ERC are offering Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) their parliamentary support for a four-year term in exchange for, among other concessions, a generous amnesty law pardoning separatist leaders responsible for unlawful acts committed in Catalonia between 2011 and 2023 – a pardon that would directly benefit Puigdemont and could pave the way for his return to Spain, perhaps in May or early June

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)