The sudden return of Clara Ponsatí, who arrived directly in Barcelona yesterday without going to testify in the Supreme Court, took most of the political actors by surprise. Her reactions to her return, accompanied by her arrest to take her before the duty judge, once again showed the friction between ERC and Junts. The ex-minister herself and Carles Puigdemont opened the turn of criticizing the Republicans.
The distancing in the independence movement was reflected in the different points of view on the scope of the reform of the Criminal Code, promoted by the Government and by ERC, which has allowed Ponsatí to face only a sentence for disobedience, which is not punishable by jail .
From Brussels, Puigdemont and Toni Comín, like Ponsatí in Barcelona, criticized Minister Mertixell Serret, who returned from Belgium in 2021, implying that she is turning her back on the "exile" of Waterloo.
The president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, who was imprisoned for 1-O, stated in an appearance while the former minister awaited the judge's decision, that his return has been possible thanks to the suppression of the crime of sedition, which is why " the State has the obligation to release her.” "Disobedience is a crime that is not punishable in any case with jail terms," he said.
Even so, Puigdemont, with a very different perspective, spoke of "illegal detention" by the Mossos d'Esquadra and urged the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to act to defend the immunity of the MEP and not to look " to the other side." For the former president, the return of Ponsatí is an "intelligent act of confrontation" with the State, for which he praised the fact that the former minister "counted on exile" after having stayed abroad for the last five years before making the decision to return to Catalonia.
However, the return occurs at a complex political moment, with the municipal elections very close. A movement –both the return and the decision not to go to the Supreme Court– that must be framed in this context. To the struggle with ERC for a political space, it must also be added that the flagship Junts candidacy is led in Barcelona by Xavier Trias, far from the positions defended by Puigdemont. The ex-convergent mayor welcomed him via Twitter, but did not attend the support rally.
In line with Junqueras, Minister Joan Ignasi Elena also called for the reform of the Penal Code and defended the work of the Mossos, who arrested the former minister in compliance with "her duty".
In an institutional tone, the president Pere Aragonès chose not to enter into battles with Junts, celebrated the return of the former minister and deplored her arrest. Likewise, the president of the Generalitat pointed out that the return does not take place "in full freedom", attacked judge Pablo Llarena and did not mention the role of the Mossos.
Moncloa also analyzed the movement carried out from Brussels, and the sources consulted indicated that Ponsatí "has offered a show" with his return. In this sense, they recalled that both Serret and the former CUP deputy Anna Gabriel went to the Supreme Court, since in no case could they be detained, and that, therefore, the gesture of arriving in Barcelona directly sought a totally unnecessary reaction. For the central Executive, it shows that a new stage has opened in Catalonia and that after the years of government of the PP, where the departure to Belgium took place, now the independentistas who left are returning.
Also Carme Forcadell, who was sentenced to prison for 1-O and released after pardons from the Government, celebrated the return of Ponsatí: “Welcome to your home, to your country. By your side, Minister!” she said. For her part, the General Secretary of Junts per Catalunya, Jordi Turull, expressed "all his support for Minister Clara Ponsatí in her decision to return to Catalonia, a decision framed in intelligent confrontation."
At the opposite pole, Ciudadanos did not take long to react to the presence of Ponsatí in Spain and with the label "They will not silence us", its leader in Catalonia, Carlos Carrizosa, pointed out on Twitter that the cause of the return of the pro-independence MEP has been the recent "decriminalization of sedition" that the Government of Pedro Sánchez and ERC have promoted in Congress.
In a more circumspect tone, the president of the PP of Catalonia, Alejandro Fernández, told La Vanguardia that "now is the time for the rule of law" and "for justice to do its job."
