In the unitary act of the independence movement to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the 1-O referendum, former president Carles Puigdemont has vindicated the unitary formula of politics, institutions and civil mobilization that made the holding of the consultation in October 2017 possible and He has called for what was achieved six years ago not to be “sold away” in exchange for personal solutions. Some words that can be interpreted as a shot at Esquerra Republicana, while Puigdemont has also criticized the attempt to corner the Consell de la República, the entity that he presides over, as he said, “to corner 1-O.” “All attempts to reduce the legitimacy and significance of the opposing camp or one’s own camp have failed or will fail,” the leader of Junts per Catalunya has also warned.
The commemoration of the 1-O referendum last year had as a backdrop the crisis of the Government of the Generalitat that ended with Junts outside the Executive of Pere Aragonès. On the sixth anniversary, the setting has been modified – also the location, Plaza Catalunya instead of Arc de Triomf – and the negotiations for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez are now the leitmotiv of the start of the political course. But the former president has ignored any reference to that matter, since he has not even directly and clearly pronounced the two words that the independence movement puts on the negotiating table: referendum and amnesty.
“We remember with pride and hope the historic feat of 1-O, the day that Catalonia democratically began to walk as an independent republic,” said Puigdemont, who later added that this has persisted at the “risk of rewriting meaning by those who wanted a more peaceful political life. “We were clear that we had to maintain a position and consolidate it for when the circumstances of a new national advance arise,” continued the former president, who has reiterated that he will not let go of what 1-O means and will not let anyone turn the page in your name.
The one who has claimed amnesty from the stage is the president of Òmnium Cultural, Xavier Antich, who for that has received some boos from the public, the same thing that happened last year to the ex-president of the Parliament and ex-president of the ANC, Carme Forcadell . The Council of the Republic, Òmnium Cultural, Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and the sovereignist union Intersindical have intervened in the unitary concentration, around 4,500 people have gathered according to the Urban Guard. The organizers, for their part, have not offered any figure.
In her speech, the president of the ANC, Dolors Feliu, complained that politicians “look more” at Madrid and the Congress of Deputies than at the Parliament. “Our goal is independence and they ask us for votes in exchange for forgiveness,” she lamented. According to Feliu, the doors of amnesty have been opened “to avoid a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that is yet to come.” “We have no desire to be forgiven, nor to forgive, until we can exercise our own right as the free people that we are. And don’t let the names confuse us. Don’t say self-determination and amnesty. Let them say independence in every letter,” she noted. “Independence is achieved in Catalonia, not in Madrid,” she concluded.
In the event held by the ANC in the morning in Plaza Urquinaona Feliu, which contemplates in its roadmap the possibility of running in the next elections to the Parliament, has challenged the action of the sovereigntist parties and has challenged the politicians to proclaim independence the day there is an amnesty. “If you don’t dare, elections,” he has told the parties he is trying to replace.
Although representatives from all pro-independence groups have come to the unitary act, the one that had a large representation was JxCat, with deputies from the Parliament, Congress, councillors, and prominent members of the leadership.
For his part, the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, spoke this Sunday from Fonollosa, a town where there were police charges six years ago. Together with the Minister of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, and the head of Acció Exteroir, Meritxell Serret, the president has reiterated that the amnesty does not resolve the conflict and that it is necessary to go further and address self-determination. The general coordinator of ERC has placed the self-determination referendum as a key piece, along with the amnesty, in the negotiation to “resolve the conflict with the State” and has assured that he will be “firm” to achieve it.
