The name of Carles Puigdemont appeared in all the lists of Junts candidates for the presidency of the Generalitat in recent months. Two years ago the leader of the party decided to take a step back and leave the presidency of the formation, but the political scene has brought the former president back to the fore and he has starred in the negotiations of JxCat with the PSOE for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and the approval of an Amnesty law that will materialize today in the Congress of Deputies, if there is no unexpected outcome.
Just after the call for the May 12 parliamentary elections was announced, the party placed him as a candidate without hesitation. He is the man who unites all the sensibilities of the post-convergents. In fact, in the absence of an official anointing, all the leaders of Junts had already pointed him out and he was pointed out again by the general secretary, Jordi Turull. Shortly after, the now MEP finished the job from Strasbourg.
Puigdemont did not confirm that he will head the Junts list, but he did not rule it out either and gave some hints. When the full Parliament elects the new president, he could already return to Catalonia. He added that he would be delighted. “With the calendar, it is clear that I will be able to be at the investiture debate and I would be very excited to be present in Parliament more than six years and four months later”, said the pro-independence leader, who recalled that when the law of ‘Amnesty in force, within a maximum period of two months, the precautionary measures affecting the defendants in the process should fall, apart from the appeals and preliminary consultations that elevate the courts to higher instances, such as European justice or the Constitutional Court .
“It is quite reasonable that the next investiture debate should be”, concluded Puigdemont, who asserted that when he makes a decision on his candidacy he will make it public.
In any case, the new political scenario affects the initial plans of the former president, who was to be JxCat’s candidate in the European elections in June and did not plan to return to Catalonia until the autumn. Although every time the word elections is heard, eyes turn to Puigdemont in Junts, months ago, according to his collaborators, he did not plan to be the candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat and, in any case, he thought ponder this decision later. However, the calendar is rushing and, once again, the decision at Junts will be made at the last minute. It’s already common.
Beyond the ex-president, Turull himself or former councilors Josep Rull and Jaume Giró were also in the crosshairs. In any case, if Puigdemont takes the step, no one will contest his leadership for the 12-M.
Despite the fact that it does not have a designated candidate, JxCat had claimed the early electoral call several times since it left the Government in 2022, and yesterday the president of Junts al Parlament, Albert Batet, made this demand to president Pere Aragonès once again. Nevertheless, the leader extended his hand to the Government for a budget agreement if it accepted a tax reduction, reducing the inheritance tax instead of subsidizing it completely, as JxCat initially requested. The president chose the other proposal, electoral advancement.
