The future of Junts, up for debate, in the ARA

"Junts is a movement created under the leadership of Carles Puigdemont, in which, broadly speaking, there are two main groups: those who come from the former CiU and the people of October 1st, to put it simply. To regain the central political space in Catalonia, it will have to make a few decisions, such as whether or not to form a coalition with Aliança Catalana if necessary to govern the institutions, and, when Puigdemont returns, whether it has broad support to continue being a leader with great influence in society," reflected David Miró, deputy director of ARA, in an online meeting with the Spanish subscriber.

The session took place last Thursday, November 6, precisely the day Junts specified what the break would entail: vetoing all the laws that the PSOE and Sumar have pending in Congress, with the exception of those they had already agreed upon. This decision adds complexity to a Spanish legislature that has had no respite since its inception, and carries risks for Junts, who from now on will be forced to join forces with the PP and Vox to defeat the main projects of the Spanish government. "The problem for Junts is that it doesn't have a viable Spanish candidate other than Sánchez," stated David Miró.

On the other hand, Núria Orriols, deputy head of Politics at the newspaper, argued that Junts has finally "broken" because, beyond the fact that Catalan can be spoken in Congress, and the amnesty—which is only partially implemented—there are no "gains" the party can point to. "Junts had been saying for some time that the wolf was coming... and they couldn't keep saying it much longer without significant results," commented Orriols, according to whom Junts' decision had already been made in the summer. "The pressure from Aliança Catalana's rise in the polls also played a role," she noted.

Núria Orriols welcomed the ruling—issued on November 6—by the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights), which determined that Spain did not violate the rights of Junqueras, Turull, and Sánchez by keeping them in pretrial detention. Orriols recalled the case of Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, whom Turkey imprisoned as a member of parliament and prevented from exercising his rights, but the ECHR issued a completely different decision than that of the Catalan politicians: it ordered his release. This new setback from Strasbourg "does not bode well because of the major ruling" still pending, also from the ECHR, concerning the Supreme Court's judgment on the October 1st referendum for sedition and misuse of public funds," Orriols emphasized.