JxCat has said this afternoon in Brussels that it is keeping Jordi Sànchez as its candidate for president of Catalonia. "We're in time and in shape. There's time to invest Jordi Sànchez," said deputy Eduard Pujol after the meeting the parliamentary group held in Belgium today with president Carles Puigdemont.
The refusal by Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena to allow Jordi Sànchez to leave prison to take part in the debate on his investiture as president in the Catalan Parliament, has forced the party to consider other names to substitute him as a third candidate. However, Pujol made it clear that they decided it is not yet time to put alternatives on the table. "There's a legal framework which allows for this investiture. It's important to insist on this message," he said.
The deputy noted that the date for the plenary session is not set and that whilst there is time they will continue defending the possibility of the former president of pro-independence organisation the Catalan National Assembly becoming president of Catalonia. Sànchez's lawyers presented an appeal to Spain's Supreme Court this Monday. If this should not be successful, they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. At the same time, the Parliament's speaker, Roger Torrent, suspended the investiture debate, initially scheduled for Monday, until the appeals are resolved.
Puigdemont won't resign his seat
Asked whether Puigdemont plans to resign his seat in Parliament, Pujol said no. Not only that, during the meeting, some of the deputies put special emphasis on the president not resigning in any case.
This possibility has been raised in recent days following CUP's decision to abstain on any candidate other than Puigdemont, which makes the investiture of any other candidate impossible, given that JxCat and ERC only have 64 of their 66 votes available (Puigdemont and Toni Comín, both in exile, cannot delegate their votes) against the 65 votes the other groups total.
Warning to CUP and ERC
Beyond that, however, Puigdemont's deputies made it clear that they will do whatever necessary to ensure a new Catalan government which will respect the results of the 1st October independence referendum and 21st December elections last year, urging fellow pro-independence parties CUP and ERC to do the same.
Pujol made a call to "the responsibility of state" when asked about CUP's abstention. "It's a reflection that must be started, undertaken without any kind of pressure or acrimony. Putting on the table that maybe it's necessary to listen well to, pay attention to what the voters said on 21st December," he added before warning that they should not force the Parliament to change its will, "knowing there are two deputies who cannot vote".
He also had criticism for ERC, saying that JxCat does not take responsibility for the failure to invest Carles Puigdemont. "We were there on 30th January", he said, referring to the investiture debate the Parliament's speaker, Roger Torrent (ERC) postponed just hours before it was to be held, without warning JxCat in advance.
Pujol said that the party's decision to continue backing the candidate is in response to their wish to respect the voters' decision at the ballot boxes, and not a will to pressure the Spanish state. "It's not a strategy to put the Spanish state against the wall. The state has put itself there by itself."