Carles Puigdemont will return to Catalonia for the investiture debate following the parliamentary elections on May 12. Whether he wins or loses, whether he is the candidate for the presidency or not, the leader of Junts per Catalunya plans to be in the Catalan Chamber that day, in the chamber or in the guest gallery. "I will return to Catalonia on the day of the investiture debate. It is an act more of a country than a party, outside of the electoral context and with institutional meaning," he assured this Tuesday after remembering that he left in 2017 as president dismissed by article 155. of the Constitution.
Thus, the former president has indicated that his return "cannot be an act at the service of an electoral strategy", as a Junts candidate in the Catalan race. For this reason, he highlights that, even if the amnesty comes into force before the 12-M campaign ends, he will wait for the investiture debate.
At the Elna event on March 21 in which he confirmed that he would be the JxCat candidate, he already stated that his return could not be a "provocation or a prank." "I will not take a selfie in Figueres and come back. For me it is very serious. Nor will I make a masterful appearance at the final rally in Barcelona even if I could," he said today in an interview in El Món with RAC1.
On the judicial horizon, after yesterday the Supreme Court issued an international investigation order and summoned him for the Democratic Tsunami case, in which he is accused of terrorism, the former president has assured that he is not more concerned about that cause than about others. "The amnesty will come into force, therefore it should be a dead letter," he remarked. "I am no longer concerned about the rest of the accusations of the last six and a half years," says the independence leader, who has settled in the south of France for a few weeks, in the Vallespir region, and plans to campaign from there in person, without screens for the first time since he left for Belgium in the fall of 2017.
Asked if they can arrest him for the Democratic Tsunami cause even if they apply criminal oblivion to him in the process and the 1-O, with the amnesty already in force, Puigdemont trusts that with the law that was approved in the Congress of the Deputies a few weeks ago will not pass. "In the one we voted no [on January 30], there was a hole and it could have passed," he added.
In the field of hypotheses and speculation about the electoral results of 12-M, asked about the possibility of Junts winning and the PSC making a maneuver like that of the Barcelona City Council, relying on PP or Vox, Puigdemont has considered that " "the PSC will know what to do" if necessary. "What they did in Barcelona is legitimate, but it has a touch of betrayal, they told us something else hours before and that now has consequences, the city does not have a budget," he said.
"If they do, they will know. It would make very little sense for us to support the Government if its franchise in Catalonia tries to put a brake on the will of the Catalans," Puigdemont predicted, implying that they will not support the PSOE in Congress. onwards. Asked if this would be the end of the Spanish legislature, the sovereigntist leader pointed out that "they [the socialists] still rely on the PP, as they did in Barcelona, and they remain in power."
"What we will not do is negotiate with the PSC. That's up to them with their responsibility," Puigdemont continued. "I only want to have a majority in the Parliament if it is pro-independence, I will not seek an agreement with the PSC and I do not believe that the PSC will seek one with me. There is no tripartite... another thing is that we agree piece by piece and we want to talk with everyone, but the parliamentary majority has to rest on a clearly pro-independence project," he added.
From those words, although it has not been said clearly, the post-convergent leader has implied that he expects the PSC to abstain if the sum of Junts and Esquerra Republicana is close to the absolute majority, as has happened in the last two legislatures. . A different scenario would be that of a tripartite of socialists, republicans and commoners.
In any case, if after the May 12 elections Puigdemont cannot be president, he will leave "active politics" and will not be head of the opposition in the Parliament. In this way, his presence in the investiture debate would be a way of closing the circle, with the Amnesty law already approved, after his dismissal and departure to Belgium in 2017. Given this circumstance, he would go to home, he said.
In relation to the campaign debates, which Junts has asked to be held in the south of France so that Puigdemont can participate, the former president recalled that he meets with the PSOE in Switzerland. "Can't the PSC come to Perpignan for the debate?", he questioned.
Puigdemont has also referred to the face-to-face meeting that President Pere Aragonès asked him to do last Friday at the microphones of the Catalan station. Thus, he has replied "normally the president of the Generalitat is proposed face-to-face, he does not propose them." "In any case, we have to work side by side more than being face to face. Face to face must be done with the socialists or with the PP, with Pedro Sánchez or with Alberto Núñez Feijóo," added the post-convergent leader. .
The early Catalan electoral call precipitated the decision of the central government not to try to approve the general budget of the State. In this regard, the former president has warned that there is an "unsustainable, unbearable and inexplicable" injustice if you look at the budget execution in Catalonia and that will be one of his campaign themes. "It cannot last even one more year and it is unbearable for all Catalans, also for Vox voters," Puigdemont warned, warning that they will not support the State accounts if this situation is not reversed.
According to the former president, the average execution of the State in Catalonia between 2015 and 2022 is 60.5%, while in Madrid it is 137%. "That can't last even one more year," he concluded.
Regarding the candidacy of ex-councillor and MEP Clara Ponsatí with another formation, Puigdemont has admitted that he has a point of "personal disappointment" with her, but has reduced the political importance of the formation While she leads.
