27s

The cross-party ‘Junts Pel Sí’ (‘Together for Yes’) is a unitary list which gathers together, for the first time in history, members of Catalan civil society, such as the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural, and politicians from different ideological backgrounds that support independence. “What we are doing here is very strange but we are going through a very strange moment, extraordinary”, stated former Member of the European Parliament Raül Romeva, who tops the unitary list. “We have tried everything” to hold a self-determination vote, but using the parliamentary elections “is the last resort”, stated Catalan President Artur Mas, who comes fourth on the list.Their plan is to declare independence within 18 months of the 27-S elections “if the majority is there”, which many polls forecast it will be. “This is for real, we are ready to do it” stated Romeva and added that they are “aware of the risks but also very aware of the enormous opportunities”. 

Scientists of international recognition, such as oncologist Joan Massagué and assisted reproduction expert Anna Veiga, have shown their support for pro-independence unitary candidacy “Junts Pel Sí” (‘Together For Yes’). More than 10 professionals have signed a document entitled ‘A good opportunity for our science’ in which they assure that ‘Junts Pel Sí’ “is the best option to maintain the good work and the consensus achieved through many years” and will “increase the resources that science requires and provide the state structures to guarantee the consolidation and growth of the research system”. The text also describes Spain’s way of working in the scientific field as “old-fashioned”.

The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), the Catalan branch of Spanish Socialist Party PSOE is against Catalonia’s independence. “I hope and I wish that pro-independence forces won’t get an absolute majority in the upcoming elections” stated Miquel Iceta, a consolidated member of PSC whom has been chosen to run for President in the upcoming 27-S elections. Iceta has come in for the previous candidate, Pere Navarro, whom got the worst result for PSC in any Catalan elections; only 20 seats from the 135 which compose the Catalan Parliament. PSC’s support in Catalonia has decreased dramatically since 2006 and the party has faced many crises and changes in its leadership, both in Catalonia and in Spain. Many parties have attributed this decline to the lack of independence of the PSC and have claimed that their policies are directed by their mother party PSOE.

Catalan Green-Socialist party ICV and alternative left-wing Podem (the Catalan branch of the Spanish party Podemos),running under the name 'Catalunya Sí que es Pot' (in English, 'Catalonia yes we can'), is a new party designed to run in the 27-S Catalan elections. Its leader, Lluís Rabell, comes from the social and neighbourhood community scene and claims to be the voice of “the social majority that is being silenced by the independence debate” in Catalonia. Regarding Catalonia’s push for independence, ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ is for “the celebration of an agreed consultation which can be recognised internationally” and, in order to have this, they find it indispensable to “overthrow the Conservative People’s Party (PP) in Spain”.

In the last Catalan elections, in 2012, the PPC got their best results ever, increasing from 18 to 19 seats in the 135-seat Catalan Parliament. The PP was already ruling the Spanish government by that time and its politics regarding Catalonia’s sovereignty were harsh and recentralising. For the upcoming 27-S elections the PPC has changed its candidate: Xavier García Albiol, former mayor of Badalona, the third city in Catalonia, substitutes Alicia Sánchez Camacho. Albiol represents the more extreme faction of the PPC and he has been accused of being xenophobic by his political opponents. He is openly against the independence of Catalonia: he thinks the process is “a romantic adventure led by Artur Mas” and he aims to stand up for those “millions of Catalans who don’t want to stop being Spanish”.

The CUP was one of the biggest surprises in the 2012 Catalan elections. This radical left-wing and pro-independence candidacy, which comes from the social movements and started its political career on the local level, entered the Catalan Parliament for the first time three years ago and its influence in the Catalan government, as well as its popular support, has hugely increased since then. The CUP’s programme regarding the upcoming 27-S elections is clear: they accept the “plebiscitary” nature of the elections but bid for an independence that goes much further. As is stated by its slogan, the CUP fights for an “independence to change it all”.

This year the electoral campaign for the upcoming 27th of September elections starts on the 11th of September, Catalonia’s National Day. In total 40 lists of candidates are running for the Catalan elections, 39 less than in the last elections in 2012, with many of the candidates being newcomers. This reduction in the number of candidacies is due to the creation of unitary lists made up by coalitions between different parties and even civil society organisations in order to have a wider representation in an election that is set to be a ‘de facto’ plebiscite on independence.