Carme Forcadell to propose Mas for President

Barcelona (CNA).- Current President Artur Mas will be proposed by Parliament President Carme Forcadell to be re-elected. After holding meetings with all the parliamentarian groups, Forcadell confirmed that the number four of pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’is the candidate whom has majoritarian support. Mas has been the one and only candidate proposed by ‘Junts Pel Sí’. However, the other pro-independence force in the Parliament, CUP, have repeatedly insisted that they won’t instate Mas as President, as “he can be identified with cuts, corruption and privatisations”stated CUP’s number two Anna Gabriel.‘Junts Pel Sí’top member Raül Romeva admitted that although the negotiations with CUP “are open”and many agreements have been reached, the debate on who will be instated as president “is stuck”. In her appearance before the media, Forcadell also announced the Parliament’s schedule for next Monday, with the vote on the pro-independence declaration taking place in the morning and the instatement debate scheduled for the evening.

Carme Forcadell announced to the Parliament’s Bureau and the Spokesperson Bureau the schedule for next Monday. According to Forcadell, during the morning the agreed pro-independence proposal will be put to vote. Later, at 5pm, the instatement debate will start. After holding meetings with all the parliamentarian groups, Forcadell confirmed that the number four of pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’and current President, Artur Mas, is the candidate whom has majoritarian support and so she will propose him as candidate. However, the other pro-independence force in the Parliament, CUP, have repeatedly insisted that they won’t instate Mas as President “not even in a third round”stated CUP’s leader, Antonio Baños. 

Negotiations are still open, but the situation is stuck

“As long as there is a calendar, there is a party and there is time to keep on negotiating”stated ‘Junts Pel Sí’top member Raül Romeva after holding a meeting with Carme Forcadell. Romeva assured that negotiations between ‘Junts Pel Sí’and CUP “keep on going”and highlighted that “significant agreements”have been reached. However, regarding the instatement debate, Romeva admitted that the situation is stuck, although he assured that the “negotiations are still open”.

Shortly after the 27-S elections, winning pro-independence unitary list, ‘Junts Pel Sí’confirmed that Artur Mas was their candidate to run for President. However, the 62 seats they obtained require CUP’s support to instate Mas as President. At a press conference, Mas himself stated that the responsibility was shared by ‘Junts Pel Sí’and radical left pro-independence CUP, which would bring an absolute majority for pro-independence forces in the Parliament if they enter coalition with ‘Junts Pel Sí’. “What matters now is to know if these 72 MPS could set up a roadmap together”he said, referring to the sum of the 62 ‘Junts Pel Sí’MPs and the 10 representatives obtained by CUP. “Everybody knows that this is the priority now”, he assured. However, CUP have repeatedly insisted that they won’t instate Mas as President. The number two of the party, Anna Gabriel, stated that the Catalan President “has to be a person who can’t be identified with cuts, corruption and privatisations”.

Social measures attached to the pro-independence declaration

Romeva also announced that ‘Junts Pel Sí’and CUP have attached a list of social measures to the agreed pro-independence declaration. One of these points establishes that the new Catalan State will welcome and facilitate the asylum of “the maximum possible number”of refugees, regardless of the Spanish Government’s decisions. Another measure aims to launch a law against “energetic poverty” in orderto guarantee citizens’ access to electricity and other supplies, especially for those at social risk. The same goes for healthcare, which they claim to be universal, regardless of the origin or legal situation of the patients. The added measures also include the re-negotiation of the Catalan government’s public debt. “This document proves that independence has to guarantee citizens’right to a better life”, stated the ‘Junts Pel Sí’parliamentary group’s president, Jordi Turull. He registered the attached document this Friday in the company of CUP’s parliamentary group president, Antonio Baños. “This attached document safeguards the fundamental rights”he stated and added that the Spanish State, far from protecting this rights “bombards them”. 

Spain’s government to suspend the declaration “from the first minute”

The Spanish executive has commented on the Parliament schedule for next week, particularly concerning the vote on the pro-independence declaration which is set to take place Monday. Spanish vice-president Soraya Sáez de Santamaría warned that “the minute the vote is finished, if the declaration has been approved, the government will urgently launch all the instruments to suspend it and declare it unconstitutional”. Sáez de Santamaría also addressed comments to the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, and accused her of being responsible for the situation in Catalonia. “Without a shadow of a doubt”Forcadell “should feel that she is the target of the Spanish Constitutional Court warning”.