Puigdemont leaves Belgium and moves to live in the south of France in the middle of the electoral campaign

Carles Puigdemont has left Belgium and moved to live in the south of France. The former Catalan president has settled in a house in the Vallespir region, about thirty kilometers from the Spanish border, and has closed what he baptized as the House of the Republic in Waterloo. From his new residence, Puigdemont intends to take advantage of the proximity to Catalonia to actively participate in the pre-campaign of the Catalan regional elections on May 12 and, incidentally, prepare for his return to Spain when the amnesty law comes into force.

Puigdemont left for Belgium in 2017 to avoid being tried for his participation in organizing the illegal independence referendum on October 1. He is still an MEP, but he and his party, Junts per Catalunya, have decided that he should leave Brussels to gain prominence in the campaign for the Catalan elections. Puigdemont is not expected to participate in in-person events on Catalan soil, since he would run the risk of being arrested, but Junts is confident that from Vallespir he has the capacity to mobilize pro-independence militancy and potential voters.

The former president moved to the south of France during last Easter, a few days after his candidacy for the Catalan elections was made official. Puigdemont has already announced that his commitment to run as a candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat implies his resignation from being re-elected as an MEP in the next European elections, scheduled for next June 9.

This Saturday Junts organized a pre-campaign event in the municipality of Elna, also in the south of France. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend an event in which the official presentation of the members of Puigdemont's list will take place on May 12. The former president has created an electoral brand tailored to him, even relegating the name of his party. The “Together+Puigdemont per Catalunya” list, and the order of the candidates, has been Puigdemont's own decision.

His number 2 is the technology entrepreneur Anna Navarro, with no previous experience in politics, and there are other independent profiles in the front positions, such as the writer Ennatu Domingo and the historian Agustí Colomines. Among the hard core of Junts, Josep Rull stands out, who will be number three on the list. Rull, former Territory councillor, was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison and disqualification for a crime of sedition in the trial of processes, and pardoned by the Government after spending three and a half years in prison. His disqualification fell when, in December 2022, the Executive eliminated sedition from the Penal Code, and that is why he can now run in these elections even though the amnesty is not yet in force.

Albert Batet, president of the parliamentary group, will be number 5 in the Junts candidacy, just behind the former mayor of Vic and current president of the Parliament, Anna Erra. On the other hand, the sector related to Laura Borràs, president of Junts, is left almost without representation on the lists: none of her followers within the party appear in the front positions.

Puigdemont has chosen to displace names with experience and responsibility in the party to bring in independent figures who will give him an image as a “transversal” candidate. In a statement, Junts assures that the signings respond to the idea, expressed by Puigdemont, “of going beyond the seams of the party” to “incorporate people who share the need to join forces in relevant and exiting places.”

In the 2021 regional elections, also with Puigdemont as the image on the posters but with Laura Borràs as the effective candidate, Junts obtained 32 seats and came in third place, behind the PSC and ERC, with 33 each. Looking ahead to May 12, Junts admits that it will be difficult to cut the lead that the polls give to Salvador Illa, the socialist candidate, but the strategy imposed by the former president does set staying ahead of ERC as a priority. “We have to win the domestic league,” says, alluding to the fight for hegemony in the pro-independence sphere, a Junts deputy who has been relegated in the new candidacy.

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