Carles Puigdemont said this Sunday in his first speech as new president of Junts, after leaving it in 2022 and returning to office at the congress that was held this weekend in Calella (Barcelona), which declared the independence of Catalonia “It is an unavoidable path” and, therefore, its political formation does not intend to “give up on the future and prosperity of our nation.” Furthermore, he has asked the Junts militants to stop “resisting” and go on “the offensive”, after thanking them for continuing by his side after “badges”, “slander” and the supposed ‘lawfare’ that he has suffered since He fled Spain to avoid judicial action.
In a brief speech by videoconference and without the epic of other occasions, Puigdemont took the floor to close a Junts congress without major developments and under absolute control of the management. 90.18% of the militancy (with a participation of 43.86%) has given their support to the only list that was eligible to lead the party and that he headed, with Jordi Turull as general secretary. Laura Borràs, that now will be in charge of the foundation of the political formation, It has been the great loser by losing all its pawns in the direction.
In any case, Puigdemont began his speech by praising Borràs, who will now dedicate himself to training “the cadres” of Junts and has pointed out that the party leaves the Calella congress more solid, orderly and renewed than it was on Friday. . In this sense, he has taken pride in the fact that the party that he founded in his image and likeness five years ago, although it began to function after his departure from Spain with other political formations, is the most resilient of those on the Catalan scene and welcomes to new “signings” within it, in reference to Toni Castellà.
Beyond this, Puigdemont has vindicated the unilateral declaration of independence of 2017, the seventh anniversary of which coincides this Sunday. From Belgium he has pointed out that independence “is an inalienable path and we do not want to give up the future and prosperity of our nation” and has warned, especially the socialists, that “nothing has been the same since then” and “nothing can be done without that reality or trying to hide it. The already organic leader of Junts has described the Catalan government of Salvador Illa (PSC) “Spanish”, being the “most hostile to any idea of sovereignty” and has reproached him for having taken advantage of “the repression and the anomaly that still persists” with ‘exiles’ like him.
For all this, he has presented Junts as the necessary tool “for this time”, be the alternative to the PSC in Barcelona and continue to condition national politics in Congress, and has urged his party’s militancy to mobilize. «We have to leave winter quarters. Let’s stop resisting and go on the offensive because there is a whole country that is waiting for us,” he noted, ensuring that Junts occupies “the centrality” of Catalonia.
Turull: “We defend unilaterality when there is no other way”
Turull also participated in the closing of the congress this Sunday. He did it just a few minutes before Puigdemont. The number two of Junts, who takes the reins of the party on a day-to-day basis and controls the organization, has defended the ideological shift of a formation that was born ensuring its ideological transversality and that leaves Calella with new ‘convergent’ genes. A turn to the right. After all, the majority of Junts members were part of the Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), its leaders in many cases, and today, for example, it was Artur Mas among the guests, as he is not yet a militant.
Following the idea of ”the offensive”, Turull has said that Calella Junts has to leave to “demonstrate” that they are “the alternative for Catalonia.” As Puigdemont is an unquestionable leader within the party, it was the general secretary who received the most emotional applause. Among other things, for phrases like this: «The Junts congress ends and the offensive for Catalonia begins. “Our commitment is solely to the nation, the progress, freedom and independence of Catalonia.” And this other: «O1-O will only have made sense if we turn it into hope and manage to finish the job. We defend unilaterality “when there is no other way.”
Before the speeches and while the various management and other organic positions were being voted on, the plenary session of the congress approved the final texts of the three papers, which were debated on Saturday with their respective amendments. All three have been approved almost unanimously, just as the management anticipated. The strategic and the ideological, with 99% of the votes. And the organizational one, with 93% support of the congressmen.
The new address
In addition to Puigdemont and Turull, the new Junts leadership is made up of the vice presidents Míriam Nogueras, Toni Castellà, Mònica Sales and Josep Rius (also spokesperson); the Secretary of Organization: Judith Toronjo; the Secretary of Finance: Teresa Pallarès; and the members: Jeannine Abella, Victòria Alsina, Joan Canadell, Jaume Casañas, Violant Cervera, Assumpta Cros, Josep Maria Cruset, Ennatu Domingo, Anna Erra, Jordi Fàbrega, Glòria Freixa, Gemma Geis, Jaume Giró, Oriol Izquierdo, Anna Navarro, David Saldoni, Aleix Sarri, Isidre Sierra, Francesc Ten, Ariadna Urroz, Teresa Vallverdú, Salvador Vergés and Xavier Vinyals.
To these we must add the natural positions, such as Albert Batet, for being leader of Junts in the Parliament; the president of the autonomous Chamber, Josep Rull; the president of the national council of the party, Pilar Calvo; two representatives of the FunDem foundation, one will be Borràs; a representative of the JNC (party youth); and, among other positions, those responsible for the party in the veguerías, the sectoral ones and the municipal entities.
On the last day of the congress, as guests, Andoni Ortúzar and Joseba Egibar, from the PNV; Jon Inarritu, from Bildu; from BNG: Rubén Cela; from ERC: Josep Maria Jové; and from the PSC: Joaquim Fernández and Xavier Amor. Also from entities such as Òminum Cultural: Xavier Antich; and from the ANC: Noemi Zafra. And representatives from CCOO and UGT, as well as the Catalan employers’ association Fomento del Trabajo, attended.
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