Everything passes and everything remains in Calella. The political congress held by Junts per Catalunya This weekend does not affect the Government. The militancy of the pro-independence party is going to give its approval this Sunday to the new distribution of positions in the leadership, with Carles Puigdemont as president and Jordi Turull as general secretary, and will validate the roadmap that must guide the strategy. in the Congress of Deputies and in the Parliament of Catalonia. A proposal that called for “deeming broken” has jumped out of the vote. the Brussels pact with the PSOE, an agreement that was key to enabling the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and that serves as a guideline to not derail relations between Junts and the PSOE.
In the days before the congress, an amendment was sent to leave in writing that Junts does not feel linked to the “governance of Spain” and that, therefore, the party will consider broken the agreement signed in November of last year in the Belgian capital. “Without results there is no agreement,” read the text, withdrawn at the last minute. Waiting for the telematic intervention that Puigdemont makes This Sunday, Junts avoids putting public pressure on the Government and straining the relationship, at a time when the budgets are being negotiated while the rollout of the amnesty law is still pending and there are talks about the transfer of immigration powers to the Generalitat.
Junts presents itself as the “alternative” to the Government of Salvador Illa and intends to position itself on the electoral board as a solid opponent for the PSC. The tactic of polarization is not new, it has already been used Carles Puigdemont during the campaign for the Catalan elections on May 12, when he advertised himself as the only candidate capable of competing face to face with Illa. The strategy turned out to be average, because Junts managed to stay ahead of Esquerra Republicana but the bet of the All for Puigdemont It was not useful to follow in the wake of Illa. The scrutiny left Junts with 35 seats, seven less than those achieved by the PSC.
In their argument to return to the Generalitat, and overcome what they define as the “most Spanishist Government in history”, Junts dusts off the slogans of 1-O to reinforce the message that there is no better representative of the independence ideology. With this objective, as much effort is put into selling one’s own virtues, “we are the ones who maintain the position”, as well as criticizing Esquerra Republicana for giving little fight to the PSOE in Congress and reaching out to the PSC in the Parliament. In the presentation that will be approved this Sunday, the post-convergent party reaffirms its “will to make effective the right to self-determination” and, if appropriate, “unilaterality.” In the original text there was no reference to this route, but it was incorporated at the last minute.
In the midst of the rise of the extreme right in Catalonia, with Aliança Catalana present in the Parliament, Junts also wants to take advantage of the immigration debate. “We must guarantee that diversity is managed within the framework of Catalanness,” maintains the presentation submitted to a vote by the militancy. The party assures that it has agreed with the Government on the transfer of powers over immigration to the Generalitat, which entails the creation of its own agency, and highlights that there is a fundamental element: “the survival of Catalanness”, the text insists, that defends “the duty” that immigrants learn Catalan and prove they have mastered it, as a condition to be able to renew their residence and work permits.
Beyond appointing Carles Puigdemont as president, and Jordi Turull as secretary general, The Calella congress allows Junts to organize its new management team, with four vice presidents, an organization secretary and 25 members with voice and vote in the executive. One of the issues that had caused a certain stir among the militancy during the days prior to the Calella event had to do with the willingness of the party leadership to submit a closed list of names to the scrutiny of the bases, which implies having to vote all or nothing. This system implies a novelty in the actions of Junts, and makes it impossible for the express rejection of militancy to be evident to one, or several, of the members of the candidacy.
Jordi Turull learned from the experience of the congress that was held two years ago in Argelers (southern France), when the vote on the candidacy was a setback for some names, close to Laura Borràs. The amendments presented to overthrow the closed list system have not prospered in Calella. “We want to strengthen the team, not the individuals,” said Turull. After winning his internal fight with Laura Borràs, who fell from the top leadership, Turull was asked if he felt addressed, this Friday, when the former president of the Parliament said that she was leaving after having suffered “the dark world.” of politics.” The candidate to revalidate the position of general secretary has indicated that he did not take it for granted and believes that Borràs wanted to make reference to Esquerra Republicana, which forced her dismissal as president of the Parliament, after the judicial sentence for splitting public contracts. “That was very tense,” said Turull.
Josep Lluís Cleries, president of the Calella congress, has defended that the blocked lists do not undermine the control power of militancy, “it does not affect the democratic issue,” he said. “We are an orderly party, we have not come to fight,” he justified.
