Together for Catalonia (2020)

Together for Catalonia (Catalan: Junts per Catalunya, Junts)[9] is a Catalan political party established in July 2020 by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, announced on 2 July as a result of the foundering of negotiations with the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) over the re-organization of the post-convergent political space under the "Together for Catalonia" umbrella.[10] The party's founding congress will take place between 25 July and 3 October,[11] after being launched on 18 July with the public presentation of its imagery and corporate identity by Elsa Artadi and Marta Madrenas.[5][12]

Not to be confused with Together for Catalonia (2017).
Together for Catalonia

Junts per Catalunya
AbbreviationJunts
PresidentCarles Puigdemont
Secretary-GeneralJordi Sànchez
Vice PresidentJordi Turull
Elsa Artadi
Anna Erra
Josep Rius
Founded18 July 2020 (2020-07-18)[1]
Registered11 July 2018 (2018-07-11)[2]
Merger ofNational Call for the Republic
Action for the Republic
Catalan European Democratic Party (faction)
HeadquartersAvda. Diagonal, 505, 2º-1ª
08029, Barcelona
Membership (2020) 3,791[3]
IdeologyCatalan independence[4]
Souverainism[4]
Unilateralism[4]
Direct democracy[4]
Anti-corruption[4]
Political positionBig tent[5][6]
Centre-left to left-wing[7][8]
Colors     Turquoise
SloganJunts, per Catalunya
("Together, for Catalonia")
MembersSee list of members
European Parliament (Spanish seats)
2 / 59
Congress of Deputies (Catalan seats)
3 / 48
Spanish Senate (Catalan seats)
5 / 24
Parliament of Catalonia
20 / 135
Website
junts.cat

The new Together for Catalonia was formed by the merger of the National Call for the Republic (CNxR),[13][14][15] the Action for the Republic (AxR),[16][17] The Greens–Green Alternative (EV–AV) and splinter elements from the PDeCAT[18][19]—such as Independence Rally (RI.cat)[20]—but it also aims at the eventual incorporation of members from the Democrats of Catalonia (DC) and the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) parties.[21][22] The party is to co-exist with the old Together for Catalonia alliance as a result of the Puigdemont–PDeCAT clash over the trademark's property rights, with those of the party having been taken over by the former but the latter still retaining the rights over the electoral coalition and the public funding.[23][24]

History

The political space of the late Convergence and Union had been left fractured and disorganized after the dissolution in 2015 of the federation between Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), the former's refoundation into the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) in 2016 and the latter's dissolution in 2017 due to bankruptcy.[25][26][27]

The PDeCAT, comprising the bulk of the so-called "pos-convergent space", had joined into the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) electoral alliance ahead of the 2017 Catalan regional election, called during the enforcement of direct rule over Catalonia and the forced dismissal of Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who had chosen to self-exile himself in Belgium to escape from the Spanish judiciary.[28] The alliance's success in the election resulted in an increase of influence for Puigdemont within both the PDeCAT and the pro-Catalan independence camp,[29][30] but his establishment of the National Call for the Republic (CNxR) as a rallying force for pro-independence parties would not achieve the expected results.[31][32][33] Concurrently, the PDeCAT registered the trademark of Together for Catalonia as a political party on 11 July 2018,[2] associated to the JxCat alliance but with not separate political activity at the time.

From 2019, negotiations between the PDeCAT and Puigdemont's CNxR would ensue for the reorganization of the post-convergent space under the "Together for Catalonia" umbrella,[34][35] but the former's insistence on refusing to dissolve itself as a party would lead to Puigdemont breaking ties with the PDeCAT and announcing the foundation of a new party on 2 July 2020,[10][36] with its founding congress starting telematically on 25 July and scheduled to last until 3 October.[5][37] The new party's name pick, intending to make use of the "Together for Catalonia" label, sparked another conflict with the PDeCAT as the latter held the ownership rights over the trademark.[38] Puigdemont's supporters within the PDeCAT took over it on 10 July by changing the registration data in the interior ministry to reflect its new ownership,[39][40] but the change did not affect the electoral coalition comprising the PDeCAT nor its electoral rights,[23] which Puigdemont's party renounced to use.[24][41]

The new party unveiled its logo and corporate identity on 18 July, presented by Elsa Artadi and Marta Madrenas.[42] Joan Canadell, the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, voiced his openness to collaborating with the new organization, although he claimed he did not see himself leading a future list at the ballots.[43] Jordi Puigneró, incumbent regional minister of Digital Policies and Public Administration, had been also commented as a potential candidate for Junts in a future regional election in a list to be symbolically led by Puigdemont.[44][45] The party was joined by Independence Rally (RI.cat) on 24 July, which broke the collaboration agreement under which it had been allied with CDC/PDeCAT since 2013.[20]

Composition
Party Notes
National Call for the Republic (CNxR) Dissolved in July 2020.[15]
Action for the Republic (AxR)
The Greens–Green Alternative (EV–AV)
Independence Rally (RI.cat)

Ideology

The party's overall political stance was laid out in the manifestos launched by independents within the parliamentary Together for Catalonia (JxCat) together with several PDeCAT elected members during the final stages of the failed negotiations between the PDeCAT and Puigdemont.[46][47] Aside of urging for the reorganization of the post-convergent space under the umbrella of "Together for Catalonia", the manifestos advocated for the defense of the right to self-determination, the unilateral enforcement of the "1 October commitment" to Catalan independence and a goal to "bring together the central current of Catalanism—today mostly pro-independence—with the articulation of a social, economic and modernizing agenda of a country small in size but large in aspirations", while advancing towards democratic souverainism, direct democracy and the fight against corruption.[4]

One of the reasons cited for the breakup of negotiations between the PDeCAT and Puigdemont was on the issue of ideology, as the former—advocating for a political project in the "centre" ground—considered that Puigdemont's platform had drifted too to the left-wing of the political spectrum in recent times.[6][8][48] Paris Grau, associate professor of Political and Constitutional System in the University of Barcelona, commented on the new party promoted by Puigdemont by stating that, while it had been common for pro-independence parties to show different levels of support on the issue—ranging from unilateralism to more bilateral solutions inspired by the "Scottish way"—a new, unexpected situation was unveiling as "some of those [parties] who have been representative of the centre-right in Catalonia are increasingly revealing themselves more supportive of appealing to the centre-left or left-wing", in what he considered a clear move to dispute voters to Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC).[7]

In an extraordinary assembly held on 19 July 2020, the small Action for the Republic party voted in favour of urging its members to "individually" join Junts and "actively participate in the process of constituting the new party", ideologically describing Junts as an organization "of progressive values, in the ideological big tent axis of [Catalonia's] centre-left majority, and decidedly republican".[16][17]

References
  1. "Junts per Catalunya arrenca el procés de creació del partit i actualitza la seva imatge". www.junts.cat (in Catalan). Together for Catalonia. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  2. "Registro de Partidos Políticos". sede.mir.gob.es (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  3. Masreal, Fidel (9 August 2020). "Puigdemont, el más votado en la dirección de Junts". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. Lasalas, Marta (2 July 2020). "Puigdemont anuncia el nuevo partido". El Nacional (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  5. "Puigdemont creará Junts en congreso telemático del 25 de julio al 3 de octubre". El Nacional (in Spanish). Barcelona. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  6. Tomàs, Neus (10 July 2020). "¿Un partido sin ideología? Puigdemont lo intentará". eldiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  7. Cañizares, María Jesús (3 July 2020). "El nuevo partido de Puigdemont, ¿una amenaza para la victoria de ERC?". Crónica Global (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  8. Masreal, Fidel (5 July 2020). "Las cinco causas del divorcio Puigdemont - PDECat". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  9. Barrena, Xabi (25 July 2020). "Puigdemont: entre el fuego y las brasas". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  10. Masreal, Fidel; García Sastre, Daniel (2 July 2020). "Puigdemont anuncia la creación de un partido al margen del PDECat". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. Regué, Júlia (18 July 2020). "El congreso fundacional de JxCat se alargará hasta el 3 de octubre". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  12. "JxCat presenta el logo Junts per preparar el nou partit que impulsa Puigdemont" (in Spanish). CCMA. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  13. Quitian, Sergi (8 July 2020). "La dirección de la Crida apuesta por disolver la entidad y sumarse al partido de Puigdemont". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  14. Gisbert, Josep (16 July 2020). "La Crida se convertirá en fundación del nuevo partido de Carles Puigdemont". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
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  22. Reino, Cristian (25 July 2020). "Puigdemont lanza un nuevo partido para competir contra Esquerra". El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 July 2020.
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  32. Masreal, Fidel; Barrena, Xabi (28 October 2018). "ERC y la CUP se apartan de la Crida de Puigdemont por ser de derechas". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  33. Noguer, Miquel (27 January 2019). "El nuevo partido de Puigdemont no encuentra apoyos más allá de sus fieles". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
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  43. "Junts inicia su andadura política el sábado con un congreso telemático". Barcelona: Segre. Agencias. 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
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