Ever since Laura Borràs ran in the Junts primary elections to head the list for the February 14th Catalan elections, in which she came third —one seat behind the PSC, which won the elections, and also one behind ERC, which came in second and led the pro-independence space— the steps of the current Catalan president of Parliament have been a combination of her institutional role and establishing her own political profile. Although this second role has bothered some, it is not a surprise, since Borràs does not have, neither by age —Miquel Coll Alentorn, Joaquim Xicoy, Joan Reventós or even Núria de Gispert— nor by political capital standards, a minor role in Catalan politics.
Perhaps the only possible comparison at the head of the Catalan chamber is Heribert Barrera, who combined the presidency of Esquerra Republicana (1976-1987) with the second most important position in the country (1980-1984). Evidently, he did party politics at the highest level. The fact that Jordi Pujol’s ability ended up engulfing him and absorbing his political space is another matter.
In the interview with Laura Borràs we published this Sunday [in Catalan, here], three strong ideas were presented. One that she clearly voices: the return of president Carles Puigdemont to Catalonia —if the CJEU ends up agreeing with him and he recovers absolute immunity and the European arrest warrants are rejected— must serve to culminate Catalan independence and the Catalan Parliament will act as is expected of it. The second idea, which is persistent in the independence movement, is the need to recover unity, at least from the anti-repressive point of view.
The third message, and undoubtedly the most important in the short term, is their disposition if Carles Puigdemont ends up having, as he has shared with members of the Junts leadership, a different and clearly minor political position in Junts per Catalunya. Something that has no deadline, but hangs with increasing urgency over the formation, and would be related to his decision to concentrate his activity in the Consell per la República. What will Laura Borràs do then? Will she opt for the position? It is easy to deduce that when the time comes, she will undoubtedly take a step forward and run in the internal primary elections that will be called in due course.
When could that be? In some weeks or a few months is the most probable schedule handled by the maximum leaders of Junts, although, with such a heavily mediated decision by the president, the dates are of his exclusive choice. On Borràs weighs the judicial cause that is open in the Catalan High Court of Justice (TSJC), which seems, for now, provisionally on the shelf, but it should not prevent her from partaking in politics, something to which she always said she was not going to renounce. In fact, she opted for the position once she realized she would have greater freedom of action to do politics at the head of the presidency of the Catalan Parliament than as vice president of the Catalan government headed by Pere Aragonès.