Regarding the steps of Carles Puigdemont in relation to the elections to the Parliament, today there are more unknowns than certainties. Everyone in Junts has placed him as a candidate of the post-convergent formation for the presidency of the Generalitat on May 12, but he has not yet officially confirmed what his intentions are.
His initial plan included being a candidate in the European elections in June and later considering what to do with the Catalan candidacy, but the advance of the elections has precipitated events and modified his plans.
Although the former president has not yet revealed what he will do, his lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, assured yesterday on RAC1 that he is willing to return to Catalonia for the investiture debate even if there is a risk of being arrested. “When Puigdemont makes a decision he is going to take it to the end, and that means that he is going to stand where he has to stand,” said the criminal lawyer, who also highlights that with the publication of the Amnesty law in the Official Gazette of the State, at the end of May or beginning of June, “a different legal framework” than the current one will be opened.
“They may stop him, but they are not going to prevent him from being president of the Generalitat if he wants to be,” said Boye, who believes that there should be no problems if the law that the Congress of Deputies approved last Thursday “is interpret correctly.”
“The fear that he will win and go to the investiture is justified,” remarked, in that sense, the lawyer, who attributes this fear to both President Pere Aragonès and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.
The Parliamentary and European elections overlap on the calendar. On paper, Puigdemont could lead JxCat in both events, but then he would have to choose which parliament he is a deputy in, since there is incompatibility to have a seat in both. His party has pointed out that being the leader in both races would be “strange.” “A decision has to be made, and when you go all out on something, you go all out,” said the general secretary, Jordi Turull. Furthermore, there are those who claim that he would now be inclined not to be a candidate for the Europeans and go only to the Catalans. However, it must be taken into account that being an MEP confers legal immunity, and that is not a minor detail. If he stands for the European Parliament elections he has to decide at the beginning of May at the latest.
In this regard, Boye spoke yesterday. The lawyer conceded that there is a possibility that the former president will be arrested if he returns and that there will be a new arrest warrant for the Democratic Tsunami cause, although he stressed that Puigdemont “will assume the consequences of his decisions.” However, he clarified that it would be presented “with a different scenario and an Amnesty law that contemplates these cases.” “I’m calm about it,” he added.
Taking into account the scenario, JxCat accuses socialists and republicans of bringing forward the elections to dislodge Puigdemont, who had planned to return in the fall if the application of the amnesty went well.
