catalan way

Current Catalan President Artur Mas assured that he “would make a fool” of himself if he were to call elections before using up the time to constitute a new government, which legally finishes on the 10^th of January. Until then “there is life”, he assured and admitted that cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’s only choice is to wait for radical CUP’s decision after their General Assembly ended in a tie. Mas insisted that elections are not his “priority” and warned that CUP could “cause” new elections but not “a change in President” as this would “derail” the pro-independence process. According to Mas, ‘Junts Pel Sí’s proposal “has long been studied” and as long as CUP “is within its right to accept it or refuse it” the cross-party list also has “the right to say this is how far we have come”, he concluded.

Pro-independence radical left CUP’s General Assembly, set up to vote on current President Mas’ investiture, ended in a tie. 1,515 participants opted for rejecting Mas’ candidature and continuing negotiating until the 9^th of January and 1,515 supported cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’s proposal, including Mas’ investiture. CUP’s number one, Antonio Baños, defined the Assembly’s tie as “a challenge” rather than a problem. “‘Junts Pel Sí’ has the opportunity to make another proposal, as that which is laid on the table doesn’t have majoritarian support” stated CUP MP Anna Gabriel. However, ‘Junts Pel Sí’s top member, Raül Romeva, insisted on Mas’ candidature as “the proposal is still valid”. CUP’s Political Board will meet on Saturday to decide the next step and if there is not an agreement by the 9^th of January, new elections will be called automatically.

The eyes of Catalan politics will be set this weekend on pro-independence radical left CUP’s General Assembly, which according to CUP members Natàlia Sànchez and Xevi Generó “will probably be CUP’s most decisive assembly yet”. The 4,000 CUP members registered to attend the event won’t only have to decide on whether to instate current Catalan President Artur Mas but also on the social action plan presented by cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’, as well as discussing the basis to start building the Catalan Republic. The assembly will mark the end of the negotiation process between pro-independence forces CUP and ‘Junts Pel Sí’, which started right after the 27-S Catalan Elections. 

The results of the 20-D Spanish Elections and the negotiations to form a new government in Catalonia, which are still ongoing, are worrying the business world. During the celebration of the eighth edition of the Carles Ferrer Salat Awards, which recognise remarkable initiatives in the business world, Foment del Treball’s president Joaquim Gay de Montellà highlighted the difficulties in forming “stable and strong” governments. “Everything would be easier if it would have been possible to start a dialogue process” he stated in a speech before current Catalan President Artur Mas and the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García Margallo. Gay de Montellà also announced that “the risk of recession has moved away and the economy is running”.

Companies, entities and citizens have European funding opportunities at their disposal to make their projects grow. To promote these EU resources and facilitate access to them, the Catalan government has launched a website which includes the available European funding opportunities and the calls for entry in progress. “We must break the myth of a lack of access” to the EU institutions, stated the Catalan Permanent Representative to the EU, Amadeu Altafaj, and added that “they are more open and more accessible than what people may think”. The Catalan Foreign Affairs Secretary, Roger Albinyana, encouraged everybody to “make the most of the European funding opportunities” and called Catalans to be “even more ambitious”.

The negotiations between cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP reached their deadline this Tuesday. The pro-independence forces have agreed on a 63-page proposal to start building the Catalan Republic and establish the legality of this constitutive process. Now the document will have to be validated by CUP’s base, which will gather this Sunday at the party’s General Assembly. “We are continuing with our democratic commitment” stated 'Junts Pel Sí' top member Raúl Romeva, who highlighted that they are following the “citizens’ mandate expressed in the 27-S elections”. Regarding CUP’s veto against current Catalan President Artur Mas, who is 'Junts Pel Sí's only candidate, Romeva emphasised that they “will instate a presidency rather than a president” and restated their proposal of “a collegiate presidency composed by a President of the government and three government commissions”. 

The negotiations between pro-independence forces radical left CUP and cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ to constitute a new government in Catalonia are continuing. The results of the 20-D Spanish Elections and the victory of alternative left coalition En Comú Podem in Catalonia and the good result of left wing ERC show that Catalonia is turning to the left, according to CUP. The party has therefore reinforced their ‘no’ to instating Artur Mas as Catalan President and has called on ‘Junts Pel Sí’ to propose “an alternative presidency which could generate a greater consensus”. CUP has also invited En Comú Podem and their partners in the Catalan Parliament, Catalunya Sí que es Pot, to join the “constitutive process of the Catalan Republic”.

Current Catalan President Artur Mas congratulated the winning list in Catalonia running for the Spanish Elections, alternative left coalition En Comú Podem and emphasised the coalition’s commitment to Catalonia’s right to decide. “We take Podemos at their word and ask them not to take a single step backwards” he stated. Mas admitted that Democràcia i Llibertat, the coalition which includes his party, liberal CDC, didn’t obtain the expected results, “we have been mercilessly attacked by the Spanish State’s powers” he said. Left wing pro-independence ERC’s candidate for Barcelona, Gabriel Rufián, noted that his party “obtained its best result ever” in the Spanish Elections “we have tripled the result of 2011” he emphasised. “Those who have been repeatedly ignored and who don’t have the support of any factional power have won the elections in Catalonia” stated Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau, referring to the En Comú candidates, which were part of the En Comú Podem coalition. 

'Democràcia i Llibertat' (Democracy and Freedom) gathers together members from Liberal CDC, the party currently leading the Catalan Government, ‘Demòcrates de Catalunya’, the party which split from former CDC partner Christian-Democrat Unió, and ‘Reagrupament’, constituted by former members of left wing ERC. “The name symbolises what we are committed to doing: attaining Catalonia’s freedom through democracy” stated Democràcia i Llibertat’s candidate for Barcelona, Francesc Homs. “Our only instrument to defend our cause is voting” he stated “therefore, every time the ballot boxes are put out we will vote”. The former Catalan Minister for the Presidency assured that the international community will be following the Spanish Elections, but they will pay special attention to “what Catalonia will vote” and see if this vote “has a connection” with the political process that Catalonia is going through.

Left wing ERC is likely to obtain one of its best results in the 20-D Spanish elections, according to many polls. The candidature will be led by Gabriel Rufián, from the pro-independence association of Spanish speakers ‘Súmate’ and member of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC). “Catalonia has to be defended everywhere” he stated adding that “now it is time to win the elections of a neighbouring state which is rejecting any negotiations at all”. ERC and Liberal CDC, the two main pro-independence forces forming cross-party list 'Junts Pel Sí', have decided to run for the Spanish Elections separately.

PSC is the Catalan branch of the Spanish Socialist Party, a force which has alternated in the Spanish Government with the People’s Party (PP) for the last 32 years. Their influence in Catalonia started to decline in 2010 in favour of nationalist and pro-independence parties. Now the Socialists are the third force in the Catalan Parliament and the opposition party in Spain’s Congreso de los Diputados. However, many polls claim their key position in the Spanish chamber might be overtaken by alternative-left Podemos or anti-Catalan Nationalist Ciutadans, both running for the Spanish Elections on the 20-D for the first time. PSC’s candidate for Barcelona, former Spanish Minister of Defence Carme Chacón, is convinced that the Socialists are the only guarantee “to chase Mariano Rajoy out” from the Spanish government and restore “the dialogue” between Catalonia and Spain. 

The Spanish Finance Ministry transferred this morning 3 billion euros from the Spanish Liquidity Point (FLA) corresponding to Catalonia. However there is still 34 million pending to be transferred due to the Ministry’s “invoices checking” procedure. The payment of this 3 billion euros from the FLA comes after the controversial "specific and additional controls" that Spain's executive has imposed on Catalonia to guarantee "transparency" and ensure that “the FLA won’t fund pro-independence whims”, in the words of Spanish Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro. The 3.034 billion euros assigned this year to Catalonia includes the 2.6 billion euros outstanding from 2014’s FLA, which the Catalan government repeatedly asked for in order to pay pending debts, such as those from pharmacies and medical centres.

Spaniards living abroad will have more time to vote in the 20-D Spanish Elections. Spain’s Electoral Roll Office has twice agreed to extend the deadline for the postal vote: first it was extended from the 12^th of December to the 16^th, and this Wednesday the Spanish bodyhas announced its extension to the 18^th. The aim is to improve a system which was described as “an authentic odyssey” by the Catalan Minister for Public Administration Meritxell Borràs when more than 200,000 Catalans whom were registered to vote in the 27-S Catalan elections couldn’t ultimately do so. This decision to facilitate the vote for the 20-D Spanish Elections contrasts with the Spanish body’s failure to do so for those Catalans living abroad who repeatedly requested an extension of the deadline for voting in the 27-S Catalan elections. 

Christian-Democrat Unió is the smaller party within the former governing coalition CiU. After the political alliance's break up, Unió is running in the Spanish elections "to represent all those Catalans who defend a moderate position" and believe "in dialogue and agreement" as the only "possible solution" to improve Catalonia's relationship with Spain, stated its leader Josep Anton Duran i Lleida. According to Duran the "pro-independence forces are tricking the citizens" in Catalonia, as they have "already reached an agreement" but refuse "to explain its consequences to the citizens" which he assured "represents electoral fraud". Catalonia's independence, besides being "impossible" will lead to "political and economic instability", assured Duran i Lleida and added that none of the parties involved and "of course not the EU" will accept the rupture of a Member State nor another crisis within the EU "like the Greek one but with greater dimensions".

Catalonia "won't get anything" from a reform of the Spanish Constitution, on the contrary, "it will lead to frustration" assured current Catalan President, Artur Mas. "It is nonsense to suggest that Catalonia burns itself to flames by promoting a reform of the Spanish Constitution" as it will lead "to a dead end once again", assured Mas. He made these statements in response to the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) President, Francisco Pérez de los Cobos, who urged the Parliament to propose concrete modifications of the Spanish Constitution in order to launch their demands rather than doing so by breaking the law. "We know that the Parliament has the right to propose constitutional reforms" stated Mas "but now it is not about rights, it is about politics, real politics" he assured. Mas made these declarations in Paris, where he was attending the Paris Climate Change Conference.