After five years of forced exile in Belgium to avoid legal proceedings, and as many years of leading a party from a distance, Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan president, decided to leave the presidency of his political party this Saturday. It is a tandem that has been designated to take over.
With our correspondent in Barcelona, Elise Gazengel
Meeting this Saturday in congress in the south of France, in Argelès-sur-mer, closest to the Spanish border, the party of the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, Junts x Catalunya, has appointed its two new leaders: Laura Borràs, appointed president and representative of the hard wing of the party, and Jordi Turull, new secretary general, considered more pragmatic. The leader had been jailed for his role in holding the 2017 referendum.
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Despite their internal differences, both have aligned themselves in harshly criticizing Spain’s socialist government and, more implicitly, blaming their regional government ally, ERC, for being unambitious in betting on appeasement with Madrid and negotiation. according to them ” useless ” and that ” created false hopes “.
Carles Puigdemont has also handed over to this tandem, asking them not to abandon the objective of independence. Officially, the former leader, now a MEP, will once again become an ordinary activist and will take charge of internationalizing the Catalan cause from Belgium, where he went into exile five years ago.
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