Catalonia: independence 18 months

Former President of Catalonia Artur Mas (right) talks to new President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont |

Getty New Catalan president wants independence within 18 months Backing for Carles Puigdemont averts early elections and sets up showdown with Spanish government in Madrid.
Pro-independence parties in Catalonia on Sunday chose Carles Puigdemont as the new regional president, ending a three-month political stalemate and avoiding new elections. The next task for Puigdemont, of the Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) group, will be to form a government that aims to break away from Spain within the next 18 months. “We are a power at the international level,” said Puigdemont, adding that the time has come “to start the process of setting up an independent Catalan state.” Junts pel Sí, which unites center-right and center-left parties in favor of Catalan separation, and the far-left CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) — which wants Catalonia to leave Spain, the EU and NATO — won regional elections in September but failed to agree on a candidate to preside over a “government of independence.

” A major roadblock in the coalition negotiations was the role of Artur Mas, who had governed Catalonia for five years and wanted to stay on in the role. Although the CUP agreed with Junts pel Sí to seek a “sustainable and peaceful” separation from Madrid, they refused to support Mas, whom they hold responsible for corruption and cuts in social spending.

On Saturday, Mas announced he would “step aside … in the interest of the country” and named Puigdemont, the mayor of Girona, as his successor. If no agreement on a leader had been struck by Monday, fresh elections would have been called – a move both CUP and Junts pel Sí wanted to avoid, fearing that voters might punish them for their inability to form a government. “We have more instruments than ever to defend our unity“ – Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Puigdemont was backed by all 62 parliamentary members of Junts pel Sí and the 8 CUP deputies. Two far-left deputies abstained, and 63 deputies from other parties voted against him. Before Puigdemont had been voted in, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy appeared on television to warn that he would “respond with the rule of law” to any violation of the Spanish constitution. In November, Spain’s Constitutional Court declared the Catalan push for independence unlawful. Twelve months earlier, Catalonia held a non-binding vote on its future, in which 80 percent of votes cast were in favor of independence. However, the validity of the ballot was immediately contested as only one third of the Catalan electorate participated.

“The speech of Puigdemont is based on a clear illegality,” Rajoy said Sunday. “We have more instruments than ever to defend our unity; the major political forces agree on this.”

Inés Arrimadas, leader of the center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens) in the Catalan parliament, said Mas stepped down because he feared that new elections would have shown the “majority of the Catalan citizens” no longer wanted independence. “We will work hard from the opposition to unmake your politics,” Arrimadas told Puigdemont. The Catalan branch of Rajoy’s Popular Party (PP) also had harsh words for Mas and his successor. Mas “has defrauded the Catalans” by “promoting an impossible independence” and promoting a successor “who … nobody voted for in the elections,” said the PP’s Alberto Fernández Díaz. “We will not allow any process of breaking [with Spain],” warned Xavier García Albiol, the PP’s regional leader in the parliament. “Catalonia will stay Spain, Mister Puigdemont.” The Popular Party lost its absolute majority in December 20 national elections. Last week, Rajoy tried in vain to convince the Socialists to form a coalition with the PP and Ciudadanos. Instead, Rajoy could be toppled by a left-wing coalition of the Socialist Party and the far-left Podemos (We Can), with the support of Ciudadanos or small left-wing and regional parties. The Catalan question, however, remains a sticking point in all coalition talks. Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias has repeatedly said he is in favor of a Catalan referendum on independence, but the Socialists and Ciudadanos share Rajoy’s anti-independence stance. This story was updated to clarify that only a third of Catalan voters participated in the 2014 independence ballot