On the route that Junts per Catalunya drew a few weeks ago for the municipal elections of May 28, a stop was marked in Arenys de Munt (Maresme), where in September 2009 the first consultations on the independence of Catalonia were held by citizens’ initiative. In that square, the formation of Jordi Turll and Laura Borrà s wanted to symbolically reaffirm their commitment to the 1-O referendum and the sovereignist road map, in an act in which the two leaders of the party took the floor, the ex-president Carles Puigdemont – via a video -, former councilors Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn, and the local candidate, Pep Artigas.
The president of the party, Borrà s, has accused in her speech the Republican Left of “setting aside”, “ignoring” and “hiding” independence when it governs. “We have a Government of the Generalitat that does not speak of independence, and that had to be the Government that was going to culminate it, according to what President Pere Aragonès said in his investiture debate”, lamented the leader, who has highlighted the role “key” that the city councils have in the independence process.
For his part, the general secretary of the formation, Turull, has assured that the mayors of Junts “will remain faithful to the mandate of 1-O”, and has assured that their mayors will be solvent in management as well as committed to independence. “The results can reward those who are tempted to let it run for we don’t know how many years or the ballot box can help those with persistence, resilience and confrontation with the Spanish State win,” he also asserted. the ex-minister in relation to having to choose between the ERC ballot and that of his own party.
Likewise, he stressed that the “votes for Junts serve to drag those who are now dragging their feet”, he said in reference to the Republicans and, after the UN resolution on the violation of Puigdemont’s right to political participation, the reports from the Council of Europe and the admission of its appeals in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has affirmed that the “Spanish State is beginning to be the Guantánamo of European justice”.
In his speech, the former president of the Generalitat called for “maintaining our position” and “strengthening the options that are committed to maintaining our position instead of backing down, giving in or going over to the other side”. “Over the years, one of the things we have learned is that this also gives results. They have not extradited us,” Puigdemont considered, remarking that they have “maintained their position against those who said there was nothing to do “.
The former president of the formation, has indicated that “there are people who sow discouragement and demobilization” and has asked his own not to trust “those who say that there is nothing to do and that it is better that we dedicate ourselves to governing well “, “Then [govern well] they don’t do it and it’s a catastrophe when they do it,” Puigdemont added. “We have to govern with all the resources we have and in all the institutions in which we can have power”, concluded the post-convergent leader, who has qualified, however, that “this is not enough” and that independence must be always present on the political horizon.
Forn, in his speech, pointed out that although it is a “symbolic act”, that of Arenys de Munt, “it is not free because it reaffirms” his “conviction” and “commitment” to independence. In addition, he has claimed that good management is Junts’ “brand.†“Independence and solvencyâ€, he has summarized, alluding to one of the party’s mottos. “We cannot separate the desire to move towards independence from good management. Junts has to be the mark of good management and be clear when it comes to denouncing things that limit municipal power and well-being”, the former minister concluded. of the Interior, which has alluded, among other issues, to the problems of Rodalies and what the training calls “railroad indigence” and the deficit of investment in infrastructure and the lack of budget execution.
In turn, Rull has affirmed that the unity of the independence movement “is absolutely fundamental.” “It’s obvious. When we go together and look at the horizon instead of the rear-view mirrors, we are unbeatable,” said the former Minister of Territories and Sustainability, current president of the JxCat national council. “Unity made it possible for the efforts to multiply,” continued the leader, who has listed a series of actions for the independence movement to reactivate. “Unity is not magic, you have to work and in Junts we want to drag the others to create a multiplying unit”, he concluded.
Thus, Rull has indicated that it is necessary to set up a strategic space for pro-independence parties and entities, “with generosity and a sense of historical transcendence”; take advantage of the Consell de la República led by Puigdemont; maintain citizen mobilization; articulate a common front of all the independence movement in State institutions such as Congress and the Senate that allows “strengthening the strategy of internationalization of the conflict” and that it goes “from knowledge to recognition”; denounce all violations of rights in international courts and instances; and, finally, “to govern the Generaliat with a sense of State”.
In Arenys de Munt, the ERC governs, with Josep SÃ nchez as mayor. Oriol Junqueras’ formation obtained four years ago 6 of the 13 councilors in the City Council and JxCat obtained 4.
