JxCat's new leadership opens door to abandoning Catalan Government

After having elected Laura Borràs and Jordi Turull to lead the party, Together for Catalonia (JxCat) will begin the second phase of its party conference: a debate on the political roadmap, local elections and the internal organization. Specifically, there are four area proposals (political, organisational, local and sectoral) that have been sent to all party members so that they can make amendments and be passed in the second phase of the conclave on July 16 and 17. In the political proposal, to which ARA has had access, JxCat opens the door to abandoning the coalition government depending on the assessment it is currently carrying out of its agreement with ERC. On the other hand, it proposes to terminate the negotiating table with the Spanish state coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the October 1st Referendum.

The political proposal is coordinated by Aleix Sarri –a member of the new leadership– and says the following: "JxCat considers that it will be necessary to assess to what degree the government agreement is being fulfilled, and that is why it is preparing a balance that states black on white the degree of compliance, analyses why more progress has not been made and assesses what measures need to be taken, without discarding any. In this scenario JxCat will raise with its members the possibility of continuing in or leaving the Government or taking other types of initiatives appropriate to the situation".

On the other hand, their diagnosis is that the negotiating table rather than being beneficial for the Independence bid has been "counterproductive": "Unfortunately it has transmitted a false appearance about the real situation in Catalonia, normalising a repressive onslaught that in many international eyes has been covered by this appearance of dialogue that in reality is not such". Thus, the paper continues, "JxCat proposes that on October 1, 2022, 5 years after the act of sovereignty carried out by the majority of the citizens of Catalonia, there will be a turning point", liquidating this instrument. "JxCat considers that the table's path, as a proposal that has never really come to life, will come to an end for good", the proposal sentences.

The political paper considers the result of the referendum of October 1 still be valid and defends that it has to be made effective. It speaks of "confrontation" and "civil disobedience" and "democratic non-cooperation" as a means, affecting "the Spanish state's economic interests". In addition, he also advocates that governments where Junts participates should carry out a policy of reducing dependence on the state, especially in terms of energy. "From the local level to each department of the Catalan government, through county and provincial councils, measures will be taken to increase the country's energy sovereignty as well as economic disconnection from the Spanish state", it reads.

In any case, the institutional framework is not the only player in JxCat's roadmap; exiles and the Council for the Republic also play a part. In fact, the roadmap even foresees that there will be an Assembly of Representatives which will include all the elected representatives of Catalonia and also the members of the Council and pro-independence organisation, all of which will declare the republic jointly. Specifically, it says this: "An Assembly of Representatives will be constituted (...) with the inclusion of the main municipal, national, state and European elected officials, as well as government officials and main representatives of pro-independence organisations and parties, which will make the final decision on the activation of the declaration of independence. This collective decision will have to be implemented by Catalonia's Parliament formally activating the effects of the Declaration of Independence and, if necessary, also by city councils".

Local politics

The principle enshrined in the political area is that Junts has to prioritise alliances with pro-independence parties to make "democratic overwhelming" possible. However, in the same line as the Government of the Generalitat, it also warns that if "the balance of the deal or the agreement does not meet these conditions, we will have to rescind or rethink it".

From the outset, then, this approach clashes with the deal that JxCat has with the PSC in Barcelona Provincial Council, which the new leadership will also consider scrapping.

On the other hand, JxCat also reaffirms Junts' strategy in Madrid: "Not to be taken for a ride, to reject head-on a magic dialogue and in no case to practice the policy of 'in exchange for nothing'". It also backs not giving "stability" to the PSOE and Unidas Podemos government. It notes that "under both the PSOE and the PP repressive measures" hace continued. "JxCat will therefore not be a partner of the Spanish government that tolerates and applies repression and also does not fulfil its budgetary commitments," it concludes.

Scenarios

JxCat's roadmap does not foresee deadlines to carry out this series of actions. However, it does mention scenarios that they believe may have a "relevant influence" for the Independence bid. It speaks, on the one hand, of the new referendum that Scotland plans to hold and that has not yet agreed with the United Kingdom, since they consider that "whatever the result, the idea that borders have to be decided democratically will gain strength and this can legitimise the will of the Catalan people to become an independent state". It also refers to the "global" result of the sentences of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union and, finally, to an eventual economic crisis in the State that could give the proponents of independence wings.