Pro-independence forces present their agreed proposal for CUP assembly to validate

Transition to the Catalan Republic

“The transition to the Catalan Republic has to be done with all the legal guarantees” stated Romeva at a ‘Junts Pel Sí’ press conference, “our priority is to create the legal frames required to make this transition possible and provide a new legality which will allow us to do what now is illegal”. Romeva stated that the calendar to start building a new country is the same: instate a new President before the 10^th of January and 18 months afterwards hold constitutive elections. “This process started at the ballot boxes and that is where it will end.”

Social Action Plan

The document includes the agreed 20 social measures which will focus on three areas. “The minimum wage of social inclusion, the health system and the fulfilling of the Dependency Law” stated Romeva. Some of these measures are set to be launched within a budgetary extension, but in order to launch “the most urgent” measures the document establishes an amount of 270 million euros.

“Presidency, rather than President”

One of the main pitfalls during the negotiations between the pro-independence forces has been the disagreement on who will be President of the new Catalan government. While ‘Junts Pel Sí’ have insisted that Mas is their only candidate, CUP have repeatedly reinforced their veto. In relation to this, right after the Spanish Elections, the radical left party stated that alternative left En Comú Podem’s victory and the good result of left wing ERC show that Catalonia is turning to the left. The party therefore urged ‘Junts Pel Sí’ to propose “an alternative presidency” to current Catalan President Artur Mas “which could generate a greater consensus” and have “more possibility” of being accepted by the CUP rank-and-file at their upcoming general assembly.

Although Romeva agreed on the need to “enhance the social base of the pro-independence movement” he insisted that they are “following the 27-S Catalan Elections’ mandate” and assured that the results of the Spanish Elections “won’t change” the pro-independence roadmap. Therefore, ‘Junts Pel Sí’s proposal still has Mas as the main candidate, although he would be joined by three government commissions. “We will instate a presidency rather than a president” emphasised Romeva, who insisted on their bid for “acollegiate presidency composed by a President of the government and three government commissions”. “We are doing something ad hoc according to the current circumstances” he concluded.

CUP: “The document is Junts Pel Si´s proposal, not ours”

On a press conference hold after ‘Junts Pel Sí’ presented the proposal, CUP’s spokesman Albert Bortran wanted to nuance that the document “is not an agreed proposal between both parties but ‘Junts Pel Si’s proposal”. Although most of the measures included in the document are shared by both parties and appeared in their programmes as core principles, the document “Is ‘Junts Pel Sí’s response to our principles” explained CUP’s MP, Benet Salellas. Therefore, radical left won’t necessarily defend the proposal before their militancy in the General Assembly. “It’s not our proposal, it is not for us to defend” insisted Salellas.

“If this is the last ‘Junts Pel Sí’s proposal and is not accepted by our militancy, then it would mean that there is no agreement”, admitted Botran.