CATALAN ELECTION’S ABSENT STAR
Paul Peachey reports from Barcelona on the central role played by exiled nationalist leader
A chair reserved in the name of Carles Puigdemont was placed at the front of his party’s final campaign rally on Tuesday, although there was never a realistic chance that Catalonia’s most prominent separatist would turn up to take his place.
On the eve of voting in elections crucial to the future of Catalonia, its former president remains in exile in Brussels, at threat of arrest if he returns home after the Spanish government condemned his October declaration of independence as illegal.
Despite his absence, Mr Puigdemont has remained the central figure in a feisty election campaign that ends today with 5.5 million people voting for a new parliament to replace one dissolved by Madrid under emergency powers to prevent the country’s break-up.
His Junts Per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) party could still emerge as the largest in the regional parliament vote called by the Spanish government and be part of a pro-independence coalition.
With many voters still undecided, polls suggest the race is too close to call.
Mr Puigdemont’s public role has been limited to nights like this: appearing live from Brussels on a big screen, pitching the election as a straight fight between Catalonia and the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy.
Mr Rajoy ordered police to halt the referendum on October 1 and then took control of the semi-autonomous region when its result led to the bid for independence. He sacked Mr Puigdemont, who fled to Brussels, while other senior separatists were locked up.
“This time it is not about who wins this election, it’s about whether the country wins or Rajoy does,” Mr Puigdemont said in a plea to put aside ideological differences for the sake of the greater goal of Catalan independence.
He promised to return to Catalonia if re-elected, but in what capacity remains open to question following strong showings by the pro-unity Ciudadanos (Citizens) party and rival separatist movement the ERC, the Republican Left. Its leader and former vice president, Oriol Junqueras, remains in prison.
The several hundred supporters who crammed the small square in the northern part of Barcelona for the Puigdemont rally had little doubt about the role he should play, punctuating his speech with shouts of “president” in defiance of the central government.
“I can’t imagine he will not be the president of Catalonia, because he is the president of Catalonia,” said supporter Toni Ferreres, 61, who said that the central government was exploiting Spain’s wealthiest region. “We’re the cow, they only want our milk,” he said.
Weekend polling suggested that Mr Puigdemont’s party, the ERC and a third small pro-independence party could fall a couple of seats short of controlling the regional parliament. That result could translate to weeks of wrangling.
Some divisions have appeared between the two main pro-independence parties. A senior figure in the ERC signalled a change in tactics after Mr Puigdemont lost the game of brinkmanship with Madrid after his declaration of independence. Marta Rovira told the Financial Times that the party’s priority was for dialogue with Madrid and turning Spain into a republic as a first step towards ultimate independence, setting the scene for years of argument and deal-making.
Ms Rovira is her party’s choice to become president in a Catalan administration if Mr Junqueras remains in prison, where he is under investigation for giving a radio interview in breach of prison rules.
The scattering of the proindependence leadership has contributed to rising support for the pro-unity party Ciudadanos, whose leader, Ines Arrimadas, 36, said she would bury the region’s ambitions to secede if she wins the election.
Polls consistently show Catalans want the right to decide their future but are evenly divided over splitting from Spain.
Many see Catalonia as a separate nation with its own history, language and culture, even though it lost its autonomy to Spain in the 18th century.
A new constitution devolved powers to Catalonia in 1978, but also outlawed independence and gave the central government powers to intercede in the event of a separatist push.
Elsa Artadi, the head of Mr Puigdemont’s campaign team, said on Tuesday the Spanish government made a tactical mistake by trying to stop the October 1 referendum.
The approach after today would be “primarily dialogue” to achieve its goal of independence, she said.
Mr Puigdemont promised he would return to Catalonia if he were re-elected, but it is not known in what capacity