EUROPE
Former Catalan president threatens to topple Sánchez’s government

MADRID – Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont warned Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday that his government could face collapse if he fails to deliver on promises made to Catalan separatist forces. 

Speaking from self-imposed exile in Waterloo, near Brussels, leader of the right-wing JxCat party Puigdemont announced his decision to suspend the meetings his separatist formation has been holding with Sánchez’s Socialist party (PSOE) since 2023. 

The meetings are intended to follow up on the agreement signed between both sides in November of that year.

Along with freezing bilateral relations, he threatened Sánchez with withdrawing the support of JxCat’s seven MPs in the Spanish parliament, essential to guarantee the stability of the government until 2027, saying there is “a real risk of rupture.”

He has recently demanded that Sánchez face a vote of no confidence in parliament, though a parliamentary committee in Madrid has temporarily delayed a decision on whether to admit his motionRTVE reported. 

Puigdemont’s political frustration is directly related to his failure to benefit from a controversial amnesty law – pushed through by Sánchez in exchange for JxCat’s support – to return to Spain without fear of arrest for his direct responsibility in the 2017 secessionist attempt in Catalonia.

Seeking to restore trust, Puigdemont urged the PSOE to meet again in Switzerland, where members of the Socialist Party and JxCat have been negotiating in recent months.

Puigdemont’s main demands include, in addition to applying the amnesty law in his case, the transfer of full powers from the central state to Catalonia in migration policy, and making Catalan an official language in the EU. 

[Edited by MM]

Source: Euractiv.com

About the author

Related Post

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *