Freedom leader Carles Puigdemont, the main figure in Catalonia’s separatist attempt in 2017, was replaced on Saturday with his party leader by a tandem including a hard wing representative.
It happens to be my last [congrès] as presidenthe declared in front of the activists of Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), who had gathered in Argelès-sur-Mer, a town on the French coast near the Spanish border.
Organizations must be knowledgeable and able to make substitutesadded Mr. Puigdemont, 59.
The separatist leader announced at the beginning of May that he would no longer run for leader of his formation, because this one needed, according to him, of a more committed presidency than he could offer.
At the head of the Catalan regional government in the October 2017 separatist attempt, Mr. Puigdemont fled soon after to Belgium, where he was installed for nearly five years, to escape persecution from Spanish justice.
The Court ofEU was only restored at the end of May to his immunity as an MEP, which was removed by the European Parliament, but the separatist leader is still waiting for European justice to rule on the merits of this very complex file.
Catalonia was the scene in 2017 of one of the worst crises Spain has experienced since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975. The separatists then organized a referendum on self-determination despite its ban on Spanish justice before unilateral to declare the independence of the region.
Nine separatist leaders were sentenced in 2019 to up to 13 years in prison for their role in this separatist attempt. The leftist Spanish government decided to pardon them last year, on behalf of reconciliation.
Jordi Turull, who will be officially appointed as Junts ’new general secretary on Saturday, is one of these incarcerated leaders.
He will form a tandem with the party leader along with the president of the Catalan regional parliament Laura Borràs, representative of the hard wing, who will succeed the party presidency in place of Mr. Puigdemont.
Third in last year’s regional elections, Mr. Puigdemont’s party was a member of the separatist regional government led by another major independence party, the ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia).
Tensions between these two parties are constant, Junts was extremely critical of the talks with the central government conducted by ERCcentral government support for the Spanish Parliament.
Source: Radio-Canada
