Catalan separatists seek to elect exiled Puigdemont as leader - Financial Times

10/1/2018

Catalan separatists seek to elect exiled Puigdemont as leader

People close to his party say he could preside over the region via Skype

Mas steps down from pro-independence Catalan party

© Reuters

Michael Stothard in Madrid

Catalan separatists have agreed to try to re-elect Carles Puigdemont as regional leader later this month, in a move that is set to re-ignite tensions between Madrid and Barcelona.

At a dinner on Tuesday in Brussels, Marta Rovira, the number two in the separatist Esquerra Republicana (ERC) party, agreed to support Mr Puigdemont, the head of Junts per Catalunya, the largest pro independence party in the region.

Mr Puigdemont, who is in exile in Brussels to avoid charges of rebellion and sedition in Spain, is planning to preside over the region via Skype, according to several people close to the party.

The decision is an upset for some of the moderates in the pro-independence camp, who were hoping a less controversial leader would be chosen to head the region after the failed independence push in October last year.

Oriol Junqueras, the head of the ERC party and another possible candidate for president, was seen as someone who would take a more moderate line, looking to push for independence over the long term.

The decision to try to re-appoint Mr Puigdemont will open up a new legal battle, because it is far from clear if the former regional leader will be allowed to take up his formal duties from Brussels.

The rules of the chamber say the leader of the region has to present the government programme “in front of the house”, which means, most legal experts argue, that this person has to be physically present.

The rules, however, were written before the era of videoconferencing, and physical presence is not explicitly stated. People close to Junts per Catalunya say there is no reason why Mr Puigdemont cannot conduct official business via Skype. They also say that a fellow party member could read the mandatory speech that a candidate to the regional leadership needs to deliver before voting.

The decision over what is technically allowed will be made by the “board” of the Catalan parliament, which is set to be appointed on January 17. This board is likely to have a majority of pro-independence members.

Any decision to allow an investiture via Skype would then likely be challenged in the Spanish courts. This could well mean Mr Puigdemont would ultimately be unable to take up the role.

If his investiture is blocked by the courts, it could be used as another weapon by the separatists to try to show that Spain mistreats the region and tramples its democratic rights — and therefore independence is the only option.

In December, the three separatist parties together won 70 seats in the 135-seat assembly, less than they collectively won in the last election in 2015, but crucially just ahead of the 68-seat threshold required to form a government.

The pro-independence parties won 48 per cent of the popular vote.