Mas offers to close list
President proposes a formula to attain independence in 2016 with no “personal conditions” after plebiscite elections
Early elections dependent on electoral list with “civil society” and no party ties
State formed
and separation agreed in a year and a half
“There are no personal conditions. There are projected conditions to ensure that Catalonia succeeds”. President of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, yesterday presented his “winning formula” to complete the independence process in late 2016 and said that he was ready to retire from the firing line in order to facilitate an agreement with Oriol Junqueras. Mas' roadmap would begin with plebiscite elections with candidacies free from political affiliations to bring together parties, civil society and specialized professionals for the construction of the Catalan state and implement a disconnection policy from Spain for a year and a half with an absolute and unambiguous majority in Parliament. Mas stated he was willing to lead, but also for the first time, willing to close the list. Once the Catalan state structures have been constituted and separation from Spain negotiated, there would be new elections in which none of those who stood in the plebiscite elections could stand, with a simultaneous referendum on independence, and the constitutional process would thus begin.
Mas proposed a project which included numerous conditions for ERC, but with uncertain issues to be negotiated, and specifically clarified that this is not a personal project to “save” his political career. However, he also warned Republicans that he would only call early elections in order to conclude the process, and therefore to constitute a country where the political forces would not disappear but would renounce a central role. The key would be to avoid the temptations of siding with a political party in return for not being able to stand again. Neither would the members of the so-called civil society be able to take advantage of the opportunity to start a political career. Standing would, when all is said and done, be an “act of service to the country”. As for him, considering the premises, he was blunt: “I can head the list and I am available to do so but I can also close it. I can be the first and or the last”.
During this process, Mas will leave the “door open” to the State to agree on a referendum or a vote on a proposal for a third way, saying he was “sceptical” but not “intransigent” regarding Madrid. His final warning was for ERC: “Errors made in this final stretch will be paid for in double or triple”.
Duran expects talks regarding no party ties
Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, who did not attend Artur Mas' speech, said yesterday that he did not intend to present a separate political option from CiU in the upcoming elections. In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Duran said that he would talk “calmly” with CDC if he considers that the CIU “brand is burned out”, and that if this marks the end of the federation the new scenario must be addressed and decisions taken. Following the creation of the platform Construïm and CDC's attempts to approach ERC, Duran argued that CiU has not been sufficiently critical of the Republicans because it needs their parliamentary support in order to govern.