Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has said this Tuesday he has no "vocation" to be a "symbol", at the same time as urging for an agreement to be found between the pro-independence parties which would allow them to "continue deploying the Catalan republic and continue running an autonomous government".
"We have to find a solution to continue developing the Catalan republic and continue running an autonomous government", he said in an event in Ghent, Belgium, organised by the youth wing of liberal Flemish party Open VLD, attended by some hundred young people.
In this way, Puigdemont defended his support for finding a solution which would allow for a two-part government with one set of leaders in Brussels, dedicated to developing the republic, and another set in Barcelona, to run autonomy. The former president of the Catalan National Assembly, Jordi Sànchez, is the name on the table in negotiations as a possible candidate to lead the government in Catalonia.
Puigdemont's comments came after he was asked whether him being considered a "symbolic" leader could be a solution to unblock the political situation in Catalonia. "I have no vocation to be a symbol," he replied.
He argued that his "authority" comes from the Parliament and that, if that chamber decides to not invest him as president, his mandate will be over. "The only authority that can take this decision is the Parliament".
Asked what the next steps are, two months after the 21st December election, Puigdemont said that the pro-independence parties are "close" to finalising an agreement to form a new government in Catalonia.