December 21 elections ‘round two’ for independence referendum, says Carles Puigdemont

With just a few days until the electoral campaigns begin, parties are already giving official pre-campaign statements. This article provides a basic overview of what each major party said, in the last few days before the campaigns begin. 

Head of the Together for Catalonia ticket, Carles Puigdemont, has stated that the December 21 elections should be “round two” for the October 1 independence referendum. The Catalan president, deposed by the Spanish government, gave a speech via video from Brussels, Belgium, at a presentation ceremony for the election campaign in the northern Catalan town where he lived. The candidate also stated that the elections should serve “to guarantee the freedom of all citizens” as well as to “ratify the dignity of those who show up to defend the ballot boxes.” Inasmuch, Puigdemont has appealed to “the spirit” of referendum day, in order to “bend the State’s authoritarianism.” He also charged against Rajoy’s executive, and noted that the future of a people “cannot be decided in court.”

Pre-emptive incarceration for pro-independence leaders is “disproportionate,” states PSC leader

Meanwhile, the head of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), Miquel Iceta, said in a statement that he is hopeful the imprisoned pro-independence leaders currently being preemptively held without bail will be released on Monday. Indeed, deposed Catalan government ministers, as well as grassroots civil society leaders, were sent to prison without bail as a pre-emptive measure, pending trial for various charges ranging from sedition to rebellion, for their roles in Catalonia’s push for independence. Their two cases were recently transferred from the Spanish National Court to its Supreme Court, the latter of which has taken less dramatic measures against similar cases; the entity may make a decision as early as Monday. Indeed, Iceta stated that he believes the incarceration of the leaders to be “disproportionate,” and, while respecting the judiciary’s decisions, he sees it as more “logical” to let the accused out on bond after paying bail. The PSC has positioned itself as against Catalonia’s push for independence and for the application of Article 155.