roadmap

Radical left pro-independence CUP won’t invest current Catalan President Artur Mas as President. On Sunday representatives from CUP’s local and territorial divisions and the 11 from the different organisations related to the radical left party made their choice regarding the next steps on the pro-independence roadmap. “We are not satisfied with this result” admitted CUP MP Gabriela Serra. “CUP has always supported Catalonia’s independence” she emphasised “we have made a move and now we will wait for the others to make a move as well” she stated, referring to pro-independence cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’. “The process doesn’t finish today. It will continue with or without Mas’ investiture” she concluded. ‘Junts Pel Sí’ have repeatedly insisted that Mas is their only candidate and, therefore, the calendar from now on will most likely lead to new elections, which would take place in March.

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 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”.

The Catalan chamber will present a plea against the Spanish Constitutional Court (TC)'s suspension of the independence declaration. The Parliament's Bureau approved this on Tuesday, with the support of pro-independence 'Junts Pel Sí' and alternative left coalition 'Cataluna Sí que es Pot's 5 members of the Bureau. The Bureau’s two Anti-Catalan nationalism representatives, from Ciutadans and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), voted against the proposal. "We don't understand that a jurisdictional body could stop democracy" stated Parliament's first vice-president and 'Junts Pel Sí' MP, Lluís Corominas. According to Ciutadans' representative in the Parliament's Bureau, José María Espejo, the declaration of independence "did have an unconstitutional component" as it stated that "only those laws approved by the Catalan Parliament would be obeyed".

Radical left pro-independence CUP have repeatedly insisted that they won't instate Mas as Catalan President. However, this Thursday, for the first time since the negotiations with cross-party list 'Junts Pel Sï' began, CUP didn't urge their pro-independence partner to propose an alternative candidate for president. The radical left party did remind everyone that they are still waiting for "a new proposal" from 'Junts Pel Sí' which would have to contain "substantial changes" regarding "the what, the how and the when" but didn't specify anything about who will have to lead the new government. CUP assured that once they receive the new proposal they will put it to vote amongst their members in an extraordinary assembly, probably to be held on the 29^th of November, once they have completed an internal consultation process with all the territorial factions. 

A month and a half after the 27-S elections, and using up all the deadlines, the Parliament held this Monday the first session of the instatement debate. So far, the only candidate to lead the new government is Artur Mas, the current President and number four in winning cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’. However, the other pro-independence force in the Parliament, radical left CUP, has repeatedly insisted that they won’t instate Mas as President. Without the support of CUP’s 10 MPs, Mas won’t be re-elected, at least not in the first round. “Freedom is beyond ideologies and parties” he stated during his speech before Parliament. “We must orientate the sails in the correct direction in order to use the wind that we received from the 27-S elections”stated Mas, clearly referring to CUP’s position. “We can’t be stuck in the harbour, not after receiving the support to start the journey”. 

The Parliament approved this Monday the agreed declaration to start building “an independent Catalan State in the form of a republic”. The proposal, presented by the main pro-independence forces in the Parliament, cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP, obtained the support of 72 MPs from the 135 composing the Parliament (the 62 ‘Junts Pel Sí’ MPs and CUP’s 10 MPs). All the other groups, anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, Catalan Socialist Party PSC, Catalan People’s Party PPC and alternative left coalition ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ voted against the declaration. “The process of democratic disconnection won’t be subject to Spanish institutions’ decisions, particularly those from the Spanish Constitutional Court, which is regarded as discredited and without competences” states the declaration’s text, which also urges the new government to “obey exclusively those mandates produced” by the Parliament. 

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) will in the end allow the plenary session to put the pro-independence declaration to vote. The TC hasn’t adopted the precautionary measures that the PPC and Ciutadans asked for in order to stop the debate on the ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and CUP agreed proposal and will allow the plenary session to vote on the roadmap towards independence proposed by ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and CUP. They pointed out that precautionary measures are only adopted in “cases of extreme urgency” and that they understand that this is not the case. However, the TC accepted the three writs of protection presented by the Catalan People’s Party, PPC, the Catalan Socialist Party, PSC, and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans. The magistrates expressed this Thursday in a joint letter that the appeals have been accepted because they “transcend the concrete case” and “raise judicial matters of a relevant social repercussion, with political consequences”. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy assured that if the pro-independence proposal is ultimately approved, the executive itself will appeal. 

The Parliament's Bureau rejected on Tuesday the appeals made by Catalan Socialist Party PSC and Anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, which urged reconsideration of the approval of the agreed pro-independence proposal. The Parliament's President, Carme Forcadell, announced that the agreed declaration on starting the independence process will be voted on next week. Forcadell also responded to those who criticised her decision to convene the Spokesperson Bureau before the Catalonia People's Party (PPC) had constituted themselves as a parliamentary group. She emphasised that Parliament hasn't done anything illegal and convened the Spokesperson Bureau for next Friday. The aim is to putt to vote the proposal presented by pro-independence forces 'Junts Pel Sí' and CUP and approve it before the new Catalan President is instated. 

The Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, has convened the Spokesperson Bureau for this Tuesday, even though Catalonia’s People’s Party (PPC) haven’t yet constituted themselves as a parliamentary group. The aim is to respond to the appeals made by Catalan Socialist Party PSC and Anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, which have urged reconsideration of the approval of the pro-independence forces agreed declaration on starting the independence process. The decision to convene the Spokesperson Bureau, and reactivate the debate on the proposal, arrived after PPC’s handed over of a writ of protection before the Spanish Constitutional Court. According to PPC’s leader, Xavier García Albiol, they took such an action to “avoid the celebration of the plenary session”to debate the pro-independence proposal as “it is absolutely outside of the basic rules of democracy”.

The Parliament Bureau has temporarily suspended the declaration that pro-independence forces ‘Junts Pel Sí’and CUP handed over on Tuesday to start the “disconnection process”from Spain. The decision comes in response to the request of two other groups represented in the Catalan Parliament, the second most voted list in the 27-S elections, anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans and the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC). The Catalan People’s Party (PPC) also supported the petition but didn’t present any formal request to stop the pro-independence forces’declaration, as they haven’t constituted themselves as a parliamentary group yet. In fact, it is necessary that all the forces in the Chamber are constituted as parliamentary groups, otherwise the Parliament’s Bureau won’t be able to listen to all the spokespersons and make a definitive decision on how to proceed with the declaration.

Two weeks after the 27-S Catalan elections, the debate on who will be the next President is still bogged down. Pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ (‘Together For Yes’), which won the elections but didn’t get an absolute majority, confirmed that Artur Mas was their candidate to run for President. However, radical left CUP have repeatedly stated that they won’t instate Mas as President, as an independent Catalonia needs a leader “who can’t be identified with cuts, corruption and privatisations”. “Now we are extremely focused on the content, the what, when, and how” stated CUP’s leader Antonio Baños, in an interview with 'Catalunya Ràdio'. Simultaneously, in another radio interview, ‘Junts Pel Sí’ lead member Raül Romeva assured that he “agrees with almost everything” regarding CUP’s roadmap towards independence and insisted that choosing a candidate to be President “is now secondary”.