"Either Puigdemont or no one from Junts. There is no plan B." Nine meters of blue fabric wrapped in Elna the presentation of Carles Puigdemont's candidacy, converted into the momentum that upsets all electoral calculations. The sudden call of 12-M forces the expresident to risk and unleash hypotheses about government alliances and their viability. Also about the resistance of the projects. That of the PSC and Pedro Sánchez in the face of the campaign of harassment and demolition of the PP for the amnesty and beyond; and that of ERC with its pragmatic commitment from the presidency of the Generalitat against hyper-leadership like that of Puigdemont.
In Junts, the candidacy of the former president acts as an amalgam and resolves internal brawls over eternal candidates. It also erases post-convergent experiments from previous legislatures from the map. Puigdemont wants a transversal list, but now he is totally committed to the party. Furthermore, the haste of the call makes it difficult for star signings. Jordi Turull's management has already decided who will head the renewed provincial lists without backpacks: Mònica Sales, Salvador Vergès and Jeannine Abella. Despite the presentation of the candidacy in blue – the corporate color of the Generalitat during his presidency – and without the Junts acronym, the decision on the campaign's image will be conditioned by the narrative that Puigdemont has already imposed: restitution.
To repay what? they ask in ERC. To finish what task? Junts' strategy is not to talk again about unilateral declarations of independence despite not renouncing unilaterality. Puigdemont intends to return to his mandate as president, but not exactly in October 2017, but in what were the two years of maximum legislative production, "good government", the negotiation to end the fiscal deficit and the demand for a referendum agreed. “If the amnesty has been possible, so has the referendum,” he said at his conference.
There the Republicans “welcome” him, although they hope to confront the former president in the area of management. Pere Aragonès feels comfortable in the debate on financing – he will present his proposal again on Monday at the Col legi d’ Economistes. Far from messianic leadership, Aragonès clings to “tangible themes.” In ERC they consider that Puigdemont will not be able to avoid all the debates that have marked the legislature: drought, education, Rodalies... Although the grade of the ERC Government does not shine either. Junts will surround Puigdemont with a team that allows him to delegate presence, even more so than when the electoral board previously prohibited him from participating in debates electronically. However, there is unanimity in his team in assuring that the former president “wants to talk about governing.”
Also about his achievements since Waterloo. In Junts they defend the viability of open negotiation with the PSOE despite the electoral contests. It is the socialists, they say, who must take into account the consequences of 12-M on the pact that supports them in Congress.
In fact, Junts has no qualms about boasting about its “120 days” of relationship with the socialists. He shows his chest for the signing of the investiture pact in Brussels, for the no and yes to the Amnesty law, for the defense of Minister Albares of Catalan before the European institutions... And for the meetings with the international mediator that will be held in the agenda with the only parenthesis of the electoral campaigns – one is planned before the European ones. On the contrary, ERC has suspended contacts with the socialists until 9-J is over.
In the PSC they wonder “what epic is left for Puigdemont”. Salvador Illa's plan is drawn up in fire: “Turn the page.” From the process, but also from the former president. Illa offers herself to anyone who does not want Puigdemont to return to the Palau; and Turull maintains that Illa will not be president with the votes of Junts, neither by action nor by omission. What they are clear about in Junts is that they do not fear a repeat election. There is no effective candidate other than Puigdemont. The third time, since 2017, it could be the charm or the loser...
