puigdemont

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, urged the European Union to “be part of the solution” to the Catalan situation and engage in a conflict that has now become “a European problem”. In a packed room in the European Parliament on Tuesday evening, Puigdemont said that Catalonia will celebrate a referendum on independence this year even if the Spanish government refuses to acknowledge it. The Catalan president highlighted the judicial process against pro-independence politicians and the “intransigence” of the Spanish executive, which has so far refused all Catalan calls to discuss the issue of an independence referendum. “About 80% of Catalans are in favour of calling a referendum, regardless of what their vote would be”, said Puigdemont, adding that a vote has been “a constant request” by Catalonia in recent years. “The issue at stake is not independence but democracy”, he warned.

Catalonia is seeking an agreement with Spain to celebrate an independence referendum but if Madrid continues to refuse to negotiate, the vote will go ahead anyway in 2017. This is the message that the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, will send to the European Parliament in a conference on Tuesday evening that is expected to be attended by about 300 people, including MEPs, international journalists and diplomats. Puigdemont will be accompanied by his two most senior ministers: Vice President Oriol Junqueras and Minister of Foreign Affairs Raül Romeva, both former MEPs and both in charge of organising the referendum. The talk has caused a stir amongst Spanish unionist MEPs, who have urged their colleagues to avoid it. The leader of the Spanish People’s Party in the European Parliament, Esteban González Pons, wrote to all his Brussels colleagues saying that the referendum plans are “an unconstitutional act, which goes not only against Spain, but also against the deepest principles and values of the EU”. Puigdemont, said on Twitter that the so-called “dialogue operation” of the Spanish Government with Catalonia “has already arrived in Brussels”. In an ironic remark following González-Pons’ letter, the Catalan President regretted the Spanish People’s Party (PP) stance on the issue.

The Spanish People’s Party (PP) attacked on Monday the talk to be given by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, in the European Parliament, saying it is going to be unsuccessful. The leader of the PP group in Brussels, Esteban González Pons, who has written to all his party colleagues asking them to avoid the event, said that the talk is only being held in a room inside the EP because three MEPs have “rented” it. “They have rented a room in the European Parliament, as they could have done with a bar or a cafeteria”, he said a day before the address. González Pons admitted that the room, the biggest in the building, may well be full of people on Tuesday evening, but only “Green MEPs, extreme-left MEPs” or even “extreme-right MEPs” will attend, he said. In fact, the conservative politician added that the Catalan referendum, which has the support of 80% of people in Catalonia, is seen in Brussels as a “Spanish Brexit”. In a letter sent to all deputies, Swedish Green MEP Bodil Valero regretted the Spanish government efforts to boycott the event. The talk is organised by Catalan MEPs Ramon Tremosa (ALDE), Jordi Solé (Greens/EFA) and Josep-Maria Terricabras (Greens/EFA). Other Catalan MEPs such as Francesc Gambús (EPP) and Ernest Urtasun (Greens) will also attend.

“2017 represents the end of the pro-independence process and will mark the start of a new era for Catalonia”. This is what Carles Puigdemont proclaimed on Monday during a conference held a year after being instated as Catalan President. Puigdemont also insisted that the referendum on independence will take place and that it “will be binding because the people will participate and make it their own”. He also called on the Spanish Government “to accept the democratic mandate” and allow the referendum and warned that a ‘no’ “won’t be enough” to prevent the vote from happening. “I won’t accept a simple ‘no’, they’ll have to explain why Catalonia can’t hold a referendum as other countries do”, he stated. 

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, the Vice President and Minister of Economy, Oriol Junqueras, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will visit Brussels on the 24th of January to defend the Government plans to hold an independence referendum in 2017, the CNA has learnt. Puigdemont and his two more senior ministers, both of them former MEPs, will defend in the European Parliament Catalonia’s seeking of an agreement with the Spanish government to hold a legally binding referendum. However, they will point out that Madrid has repeatedly ruled out any discussion on the issue, arguing that a vote on independence is legally impossible. The Catalan President, the Vice President and the Foreign Affairs Minister will stress that Catalonia will celebrate the referendum even if Spain continues to refuse to engage in negotiation.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, insisted this Thursday on the importance of passing the budget for 2017. If the bill, which will be put to vote in February, doesn’t receive the required support in the Catalan Chamber, “the Government can’t continue, for reasons of dignity and democratic coherence”, Puigdemont stated. Thus, he called for pro-independence radical left CUP, the main partner of cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ in the Government to have “courage” and allow the bill to be passed. CUP already vetoed the previous budget last summer, forcing the extension of the 2015 budget, after considering it “too autonomic” and not proper of a state which aims to be independent.

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has ruled out running again in the next Catalan elections. He had already stated this last January, when he took office, and he confirmed his intention during a radio interview on Thursday. “In a year from now I won’t be President”, stated Puigdemont and insisted that the Government’s plan was to launch an 18-month long term of office which will expire next summer. “We committed to calling elections six months after the referendum at the most and my task finishes with this purpose, I don’t have any vocation to be a candidate for the presidency”, he assured. Marta Pascal, general coordinator of Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), Puigdemont’s party, considered the president’s decision “coherent” and refused to open a debate on who will be PDeCAT’s candidate for this position.

Spain’s call for Catalan leaders to attend the upcoming Autonomous Communities’ summits to discuss regional policies has not changed the Government’s plan for the meetings. The Catalan Vice President and Catalan Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, have refused to attend the Council on Fiscal and Financial Policies (CPFF, going by its Catalan initials) this Thursday, citing other political commitments. Catalan Secretary of Economy, Pere Aragonès, will go instead. For his part, Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has already announced he will not attend the Conference of Presidents convened by the Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy, for the 17th of January. “Catalonia has won the right to a bilateral relationship as the demands of the Catalan people have nothing to do with the requests of other Autonomous Communities”, Puigdemont said in October, when he announced that he would not be attending the conference.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) carried out this Wednesday its usual procedure and hand delivered the resolution notice which warns the Catalan executive of the criminal liability of launching the referendum plan. The document emphasised the magistrates’ duty to “impede or block” any initiative aimed at ignoring the TC suspension of the Government’s plan to call a referendum in Catalonia in September 2017. The notice warns Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, along with the members in the Catalan executive of the “eventual charges” which they may face. On Tuesday, the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, and the members of the Parliament’s Bureau also received the same notice, which was hand delivered by judicial secretaries from Catalonia’s Supreme Court.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) suspension of the Parliament’s plan to call a referendum in Catalonia in September of next year has outraged many sectors of Catalan political and civil society. This Thursday, Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, stated that the TC’s decision “confirmed” the existence of “constitutional populism” in Spain which claims that “Catalans are not allowed to vote”. In response, assured Puigdemont, the Government will simply “apply democracy”. “Catalans have the right to vote, debate and hold meetings, therefore, we will vote, debate and hold meetings”, he stated. The Catalan President also took the chance to express his support and that of the whole executive for the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who will face trial on Friday for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote in the Catalan Chamber last July.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has summoned the members of the National Alliance for the Right to Self-Determination to meet on the 23^rd of December to start organising the referendum on independence. The summit, in compliance with the resolutions adopted at the general policy debate in October, will be chaired by Puigdemont and the President of the Parliament, Carme Forcadell. As sources close to the presidency have told the Catalan News Agency, the meeting will be held in the Parliament just after it has given green light to the 2017 budget. The aim of the meeting is to find political and social consensus around the organisation of the referendum to be held next September 2017. According to the Spanish Government spokesman, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, the meeting is a “symptom of unilateralism”, resulting from requests from “the radicals of the CUP”.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, is suspicious regarding Spain’s executive willingness to dialogue. During this Wednesday’s session of control in the Parliament, Puigdemont stated that Catalonia deserves a bilateral negotiation with the Government in Madrid and that he considers anything other than this a way to “dilute and disguise what is really going on” in Catalonia and therefore “confuse public opinion”. Pro-independence radical left CUP MP, Mireia Boya, went a bit further and urged Puigdemont not to go along with Spain’s “siren calls” in relation to its supposed openness to dialogue. On the other hand, Xavier García Albiol, the leader of the Catalan branch of Spain’s governing party PP, called for Puigdemont not to be like “a statue” before the “signals” sent by the Spanish Government. 

“For the last few years, especially since Catalonia passed the new Statute of Autonomy in 2010, Spain has neglected its duties towards Catalonia”, stated on Thursday Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. In front of an auditorium full of businessmen and with Spain’s King, Philip VI and Spanish Vice President and Minister for Territorial Administrations, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, also present, Puigdemont emphasised Catalonia’s leading role in terms of business and praised its economic strength. During the ‘Ferrer Salat’ awards, given by Catalonia’s largest employers’ associations in recognition of the most outstanding businesses, Puigdemont lamented the Spanish Government’s attitude and accused it of refusing to listen to the citizens’ demands, which is an “indispensable condition” for having “the productive dialogue we all hope for” and which is the legal basis of a democracy. 

“It is unbelievable that being democratic in Spain is nowadays a risky sport”, stated Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont this Tuesday during an official trip to Paris. After meeting the leader of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), Jean Christophe Lagarde, Puigdemont lamented “Spain’s democratic weakness” but admitted that it “is not surprising”. In the same vein, Puigdemont gave an address on Monday at the centre of political studies of Sciences Po in Paris and denounced the “judicial persecution” that the Catalan politicians who defend the independence process must face. “The legal framework must be at the service of democracy and not the other way around”, he said and lamented the recent demands from the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) to file a complaint against Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote.