Mas will call elections if the CUP makes no change

The interim President of the Government of Catalonia, Artur Mas, on Monday will sign the decree calling elections if the CUP should fail to correct its position of blocking his investiture and the agreement proposed by the Junts pel Sí party. In a press conference after the cabinet meeting, Mas said that Junts pel Sí could make no more offers. ‘Next Monday I will sign the decree calling elections, but I have until the 11th to sign it. Before Sunday there is time for the investiture. Junts pel Sí has made the CUP so many offers that what is clear is that we cannot make any more, because none has served to unblock the investiture. It makes no sense to make more offers. I will sign the decree on Monday; I would prefer not to sign it, this is not the situation we would want; the CUP can avoid it.’ Mas added that in all likelihood the elections, if called, would be on 6 March.

He also explained why Junts pel Sí would not make more offers. ‘Junts pel Sí achieved a very solid victory. Junts pel Sí has six times the number of seats as the CUP, and twelve times the five members of the la CUP who have opposed the agreement.’ From time to time he referred to the five members and not to the ten that the CUP has in order to highlight that half of the political group came out in favour of the investiture at the Sabadell assembly.

Mas based his decision on two reasons. Firstly on efficiency. ‘The sovereigntist process can only go forward if it includes everyone who believes in it,’ he said. ‘We cannot veto and exclude. Those who apply the sense of exclusion have to be told that enough is enough. We don’t want that.’ And secondly he referred to dignity. ‘The Presidency of the Government of Catalonia is not a fish auction. One thing is negotiating, making concessions, submitting voluntarily to the control of the parliament… But out of dignity the Presidency of the Government of Catalonia is not a fish market. Half of the CUP cannot expect their conditions to be imposed in this manner.’
When he was asked whether he would take a step back, he insisted that they would not give in over this either. ‘If we give in over this, we will be sending the message that the process we are making can be built on the basis of vetoing.’

‘The CUP’s error is of giant proportions’ 




Mas regretted that a situation had been reached that did not allow the mandate of the urns of the 27-S to be applied. He said that Junts pel Sí had trusted the CUP too much. ‘I want to acknowledge a mistake, which is that of having trusted in the CUP’s sense of country. The action of the last years in the parliament made us think that this sense of country would be imposed, but one thing has been seen: what really overrides here is the revolutionary spirit against almost everything. It is legitimate that the CUP might wish to carry out a social hyper revolution. But the fact that as a result of wanting to make this revolution it is unable to see that we are at such a transcendental time takes away this sense of country. I acknowledge my and Junts pel Sí’s mistake of having trusted excessively in the CUP’s sense of country.’

He also talked about the errors which, in his opinion, the CUP has made. ‘The CUP’s error is of giant proportions. I don’t know whether they realise. The error of not wanting to admit that turning Catalonia into a state requires joining and not dividing, and voting and not vetoing. Exercising sovereignty and wanting to build an independent state as a powerful tool at the service of a better Catalonia can only be done by joining and not dividing.’ And yet more, ‘The CUP’s second mistake is to think that they can carry out the social revolution with five or ten members of parliament.’