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JxCat urges ‘consensus’ if third candidate required

The pro-independence parties were yesterday preparing themselves for a crucial week for breaking the stalemate over the swearing in of a new president. Unless something happens in the courts relating to Jordi Sànchez’s appeal to be allowed out of prison, the ball is very firmly in the court of the Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) group to which he belongs. The leader of the affiliated PDeCAT party, Marta Pascal, said that if it becomes necessary to find a third candidate, then it must be someone chosen through “consensus”, from among JxCat’s “plurality and diversity”.

While admitting that “there is little time” left to take key decisions, Pascal reiterated her party’s support for Sànchez as candidate. “We wait to see what response we might get on Tuesday,” she said, in reference to the date on which the Supreme Court is to rule on Sànchez’s appeal for release.

Meanwhile, pro-independence ally Esquerra (ERC) avoided putting more pressure on JxCat to put forward an effective candidate. Yet, ERC secretary general, Marta Rovira, insisted that making a Catalan Republic reality would depend on “coming together and growing”. At the same time, ERC MP and former parliament speaker, Carme Forcadell, said she was convinced that a new Catalan government “is increasingly close”.

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