CiU splits, Unió Ministers to quit Government
ARA has learned that Vice-President Joana Ortega will give up politics. Espadaler says that they will not break up the federation with CDC
The meeting of the Executive Committee of Unió Democràtica (1) that was to decide the future of the party is over. According to our sources, the Ministers from Unió will leave the Government. They are: Home Secretary Ramon Espadaler; Josep Maria Pelegrí, Minister for Agriculture; and Joana Ortega, Vice-President and Minister for the Administration. Ortega, in fact, will be leaving politics, according to the same sources. The decision has been communicated to president Mas. "We are not breaking up the federation", indicated Espadaler. "That is not our intention", he added.
"It is an exercise in consistency", said Espadaler, Secretary General of Unió, in a press conference. The Christian-democrat leader noted that Unió "will guarantee" the parliamentary stability of the Government and municipal groups created just two weeks ago. The decision affects all of Unió’s public officials in the Catalan administration.
"Our parliamentary support is more than guaranteed even if this term lasts longer. They have forced us to make a decision in three days. The decision is not to break up the federation, but to be consistent", said Espadaler. The decision to leave the Government was taken with 16 votes in favor, 10 against, and 2 abstentions. The Secretary General assured that he didn’t like the "manner" in which CDC had issued its "ultimatum".
"There is a desire not to damage a tool that has been useful. There are spaces to share, especially at the municipal level", added Espadaler. "I have noted that neither party wishes to split up", said the Secretary General of Unió.
Tension with party dissenters
The two souls of the party were visible in this meeting: the official sector --led by Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and Ramon Espadaler, Secretary General of Unió--, and the reformist sector, led by Antoni Castellà, which will present a proposal to sign on to the pro-independence roadmap endorsed by CDC, ERC, and the civic organizations with whom Castellà met this morning. Duran left the party headquarters a few minutes after five.
The meeting began at about two o’clock in the afternoon at the national headquarters of Unió. On the table was the ultimatum that CDC sent to Unió to join the pro-independence list for the September 27th plebiscite elections. As this paper revealed earlier today, it is highly likely that the Executive Committee of Unió will reject this ultimatum, opening the door to a breakup of the federation.
One of the first to arrive was Manuel Silva, who is very close to Duran. Also present were Joana Ortega, Ramon Espadaler, Joan Cañada --Ortega’s right hand and logistical organizer of the November 9th 2014 consultation--, Josep Sánchez Llibre, and Maria Assumpció Laïlla, CiU MP and one of the faces of the pro-independence sector.
At first, the meeting was expected to last until 4:30pm, at which time a press conference was planned at the headquarters on Nàpols street. In the end, it lasted one hour longer.
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(1) N.T. Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) and its Christian democratic smaller ally, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC), have run together as a coalition or a federation (CiU) in every election in Catalonia for the past 37 years.
