Parties call for dialogue in day 9 of election campaign
Despite general agreement that talks are needed each group defends its own priorities
Wednesday was the ninth day of the election campaign, and with only a week to go until the Catalan ballot on December 21 there was a lot of talk about talking. ‘Dialogue’ was one of the keywords of the day, although it clearly means something different for each party.
PPC willing to open dialogue but not on independence
Spanish prime minister and leader of the People’s Party, Mariano Rajoy, was in Badalona campaigning for the Catalan branch of his party and its leader and candidate, Xavier Garcia Albiol. Rajoy said his party is willing to open dialogue with the new Catalan government, but not on independence. The Spanish president said that his executive is “the best guarantee that Catalonia will continue to be part of Spain and Europe.”
ERC addresses Spanish president in a letter
Rajoy’s comments came after a letter addressed to him from ERC’s main candidate, the still imprisoned Oriol Junqueras, was read out in the Spanish Parliament. Junqueras called on the Spanish president to respect the results of the election “whatever they might be”. Criticizing the police brutality during the October 1 referendum, Junqueras said differences must be resolved with "dialogue and never with violence." Junqueras' number 2, Marta Rovira, branded today the possibility that she also be summoned to court over the independence case as coercion.
PSC suggests a two-year ultimatium for negotiation
The Catalan Socialist candidate, Miquel Iceta, also put the emphasis on talking, suggesting that if in two years the Catalan president had not managed to successfully negotiate agreements with the Spanish government then he or she should resign. If not, he argued, “we will have failed and each political party will have to offer Catalans another path.”
CUP rejects dialogue and continues independence plans
However, one party that has given up on dialogue with the Spanish government is the far-left pro-independence CUP party. On Wednesday they joined Som Alternativa and Procés Constituent to form the 'Platform for the Republic', which aims to bring together federalists, confederalists and independence supporters. Also rejecting dialogue, the former leader of Podem, Albano Dante Fachin, said “we are working on the basis that we must act without asking for permission.”
JxCat insists independence way to a "better" country
Meanwhile, Together for Catalonia (JxCat) candidate Carles Puigdemont, via a video recording from Brussels, insisted that independence is the best way to secure a “better” country. The dismissed president stressed the social credentials of Catalonia and argued that “an oppositional state” is what is preventing the country from reaching the level of Europe’s most advanced countries.
CatEnComu accuses parties of "feeding" off independence movement
Independence was also on the mind of the main Catalonia in Common-Podem candidate, Xavier Domènech, who accused the unionist Ciutadans party (Cs) of “feeding” off the sovereignty process and being the “dark side” of the push for statehood. Domènech insisted that Cs was “no alternative” to the independence process because “they are looking for confrontation.”
Cs wants to clear the way for an "alternative government"
The Ciutadans leader and main party candidate, Inés Arrimadas, wasted no time returning the compliment, insisting that Domènech’s party could not be allowed to become “decisive” in the upcoming election. Arrimadas suggested that Catalonia in Common’s voters are not in favor of a republic, and asked them to stay away rather than stand in the way of an “alternative government”.