Catalan parties have their say in investiture debate

During the investiture debate on Thursday evening to swear in Junts per Catalunya’s Jordi Turull as president, Catalonia’s political parties all got a chance to address the Parliament. The day had begun with the unionist parties highly critical of the hastily convened session, with the main pro-independence parties hoping to swear in Turull before his appearance before the Supreme Court on Friday, when he could well end up back in preventive prison.

Despite the failure to elect Turull in the first round due to a lack of votes, after the CUP party members decided to abstain, the unionist parties were no less critical. With each party given 15 minutes to address the chamber, the leader of Ciutadans (Cs), the unionist party with the most seats in parliament, accused Turull of “disappointing everyone”, of causing social disharmony, and of “wanting to extend the chaos, because beyond that you have nothing.”

Next came the spokesman for Esquerra (ERC) the main ally of Turull’s party in the pro-independence camp. Beginning with criticism of the Spanish authorities for choosing “repression” over politics in dealing with the Catalan issue, the ERC spokesman expressed his party’s support for Turull but insisted that “our immediate duty” is to bring direct rule from Madrid to an end. “Today we are taking the first steps to get our institutions back,” he said.

Meanwhile, the head of the Catalan socialist party, which opposes independence, began asking why the rush to convene the debate if the pro-independence parties “did not have a secure majority”. Nevertheless, he welcomed Turull’s speech for its lack of reference to a Catalan republic and opened the door to “cross-party agreements”, as long as groups renounce the pursuit of independence. "Divided this country will not move forward," he said.

For his part, the leader of the Catalunya en Comú party, which stands with neither the pro-independence or unionist camps, began ominously: “We are experiencing the darkest time for this country,” he said. Accusing the Spanish judiciary of suppressing “each act of Catalan politics”, he asked “why is candidate Turull being presented today? Because tomorrow he could go to jail.”  

As for CUP, which announced its four MPs would not to vote for Turull, thereby denying the pro-independence camp a majority, a party spokesman accused the candidate of making a "regionalist" speech. Having declared the party’s support for a Catalan Republic, the spokesman warned: "We will be in opposition if what you suggest is going back to a regional model." The price for bringing CUP back on board, said the spokesman, was committing to social policies and a constituent process.

As with Ciutadans, the leader of the Catalan wing of Spain’s ruling People’s Party accused Turull and the pro-independence parties of dividing society. “If your candidacy goes ahead, it will make the conflict worse and enhance social division," he said. He also cast doubt on Turull’s offer of dialogue to the Spanish authorities: “You expect the government of Spain to reach out, but it is the same as posed by President Puigdemont when he said 'Either the referendum or the referendum'."

Last to address the chamber was the spokesman for PDeCAT, the party of Carles Puigdemont. He also put the focus on direct rule of Catalonia from Madrid, claiming that “article 155 is an attack on the citizens of this country,” he said, adding, “they cannot dismiss the public; they cannot send all of us to prison.” With the voting set to go to a second round, the spokesman called on the chamber to make Turull’s investiture a reality. “The sky is always blue,” he concluded.