Jordi Domingo: "I'm not putting any red lines in the Catalan Alliance"

BarcelonaJordi Domingo admits that if a few months ago he had been told that he would be the President of the Council of the Republic, he would not have believed it. Nor would he win with 66% of the votes. The new successor of Carles Puigdemont hopes to meet his expectations.

He says that some patriots came to look for him to be the new President of the Council. Who were these patriots?

— People from local councils, members of the Consell, but also members of the CUP, ERC, Junts and even some socialist sympathisers. Afterwards, about fifteen people joined together to ask me to take the step, which cost me a lot.

Were there members of the board of directors who were at odds with Toni Comín among them?

— Yes, but the management board, as such, never came looking for me.

Was it Antoni Castellà or Puigdemont's candidate?

— I have had supporters in Junts. Antoni Castellà was one of the people who asked me to stand in January, but I didn't listen to him at the time. The person who was decisive for me was a journalist who told me that the Consell is the only institution that derives from 1-O.

You have said that you would speak with all the candidates to incorporate points from their programs, but the fact that you have been accused of irregularities does not mean that you will be blown up?

— Always an outstretched hand, despite the insinuations that have been made. On Wednesday I wrote to Montserrat Duran and she responded, something that Comín did not do, to encourage this approach. This is what the Council and the country need. Battles undermine the institution and not everything is worth it.

In any case, he ruled out integrating rivals into the leadership. Does Comín's management of the Consell invalidate him?

— I believe in the presumption of innocence. I have not read the audit, but I will do so now. Everyone is free to come forward, but all the members of the Government decided to step aside except Comín. And they are all directly responsible for the good and the bad, such as the damage to their reputation, which will drag on for some time. In addition, Comín received some accusations that could be criminal. I would have retired. When damage is done to the institution, it is better to step aside.

Will you initiate an external audit to determine whether Comín has committed irregularities?

— I want to see what the economic situation is in order to assess it. I am open to any new audit or investigation, but not to conduct a witch hunt, but to get to the bottom of the problem.

The other exiled councillor, Lluís Puig, did support him. Could he be the vice-president?

— I would like to, but I have spoken to him and he is very willing to help, but not to get involved in the daily action of the government because he is currently doing a huge job abroad with Catalan culture. And I did not offer him the vice presidency because I respect his decision.

Your main objective is to achieve what has been a pipe dream until now: that the Consell be the common home of the independence movement. Why do you think that ERC, CUP and Òmnium would now join?

— This is the great challenge. We must recover the unity of the independence movement, but not of the parties, which are entrenched in absolute autonomism. As Lluís Llach says, we will not be the crutches of the parties. We must seek the unity of the people of 1-O. In the Consell, the parties will always have an absolutely minority role.

Does Aliança Catalana have a place?

— Why not? We are in a phase of struggle for independence. The Council must be the winter quarters of all separatists. And this national reference point outside must be transversal, and the voters, the members of the Catalan Alliance, will be welcome. Later, in view of the future governance of the country, I will risk my life to defend human rights. Until 1-O we did not ask anyone what they thought and I do not think it is productive to ask them now. If you are separatist, go ahead.

Does this include Alliance representatives in the Council government?

— The government is another story and I would submit it to the members of the Council. If the parties are included, they should all be included. I do not put any red lines in the Alliance because the priority is to achieve independence.

Don't you share the sanitary cordon in Aliança?

— From the Council of the Republic and with the objective of independence, no.

You want to create a cross-functional entity. Does the fact that you are not linked to Junts make it easier than before?

— The easy thing is that he is a person of dialogue who always seeks what unites us and does not divide us.

Until now, was the Council a satellite of Junts?

— A little bit, yes, but if everyone else turns their backs on you, in the end only you remain.

He says that the Council is the only institution left from 1-O. But what is the point of the Council if the major pro-independence parties have given up on enforcing the mandate?

— If we got to 1-O, it was thanks to the citizens. The parties played their part. But neither President Mas woke up one day being an independence supporter, nor President Puigdemont, who is a stone-cold independence supporter, would have held the referendum without the support of all the people on his neck. If the parties have now decided to hand over the keys to the Generalitat to Article 155, the citizens must convince them again that this is not the way forward.

With a new referendum or by lifting the DUI?

— We already had the referendum, but we will explore the United Nations route promoted by Jordi Castellà. And if we had the possibility of achieving an agreed referendum on the table, we should do it.

If the exiles can return to Catalonia, will the Council still make sense?

— As long as there is no independence, Catalan separatists will be repressed and we must have a powerful reference point outside.

—