Countdown continues
Today marks one month until the deadline to appoint a new president and government expires so as to avoid a new election none of the parties wants
Exactly one month from today is the deadline for the pro-independence parties to swear in a new president and form a government. If not, on May 22, a new election that no one wants will be called. The JxCat and ERC parties reached agreement on a new roadmap weeks ago, which included a Council of the Republic in exile abroad.
After four failed attempts to swear in a president –Carles Puigdemont, Jordi Turull and Jordi Sànchez twice– Puigdemont was released by a German court, which refused to extradite him to Spain on the charge of rebellion. That put the swearing in of the deposed president back on the table as the best option for his JxCat party, which hopes to modify the presidency laws in parliament at the beginning of May to allow Puigdemont’s swearing in at a distance.
Given that the Constitutional Court will immediately overturn the move, turning Puigdemont’s investiture into a gesture, JxCat would no doubt go to plan D to break the stalemate. The party as yet is unwilling to even talk about this eventuality, but names like Elsa Artadi, Marta Madrenas or Ferran Mascarell have come up as alternatives. Assuming that there is enough time, as the clock continues to tick down to May 22.
The other pro-independence party, CUP, is also in favour of Puigdemont’s candidacy but rules out a plan D and argues for defying the Spanish authorities. Insisting on respecting the results of the October 1 referendum, CUP has said it will only give its approval to a plan that includes acknowledgement of the Republic.
Despite the agreement with JxCat, the ERC party stresses the need for an effective president and government as soon as possible to end direct rule from Madrid restore Catalonia’s self-government.