ANC might run in 27S elections if pro-independence parties don’t agree on shared manifesto

BarcelonaThe Catalan National Assembly (ANC*) has issued an ultimatum to the Catalan separatist parties to force them to come to an agreement before the summer on the electoral manifesto and road map for the plebiscite elections of September 27. As anticipated by this newspaper on Monday, the ANC’s newly updated paper and road map that its members will need to review --this is the third update since the ANC was created-- threatens with promoting “a broad base” candidacy that would run in the 27S elections if separatist parties cannot agree on a shared electoral manifesto in the coming weeks, ensuring that the vote has a plebiscite-like nature. The agreement --which the ANC expects to be reached within the framework of the ANC-led board of social and political forces for independence-- should include an explicit vow to start the independence process for good as soon as the new Parliament convenes for the first time.

Following a five-hour debate behind closed doors, at 1 am last Thursday the ANC board --divided and strained-- reached a compromise that is sufficiently open to interpretation for everyone to accept. This decision also serves to put the heated debate on standby, thus avoiding a split at the worst possible time. Those who are most reluctant to the ANC becoming an institutional actor managed to amend the initial document drafted by the political commission --led by Pere Pugès-- so that an eventual “broad base list” driven by civil society would only be a last resort in the context of further political disagreement that jeopardized the independence project. According to sources within the ANC, these conditions mean that this option is “remote”.

The key issue is who and what parameters will determine whether it is advisable to activate this plan. It should be noted that most current members of the ANC board are due to step down in April. Assuming that the ANC’s General Assembly approves the plan in Lleida next April 12, its eventual activation will be subject to the opinion of the newly-elected board.

The updated paper and road map that are to be reviewed by the ANC’s members make it clear the the ANC’s top priority is to promote the greatest unity “possible” among separatist candidacies (in plural). It is significant that it should refer to “candidacies” in plural, given the current tensions within the ANC between those who feel that it should remain a mobilising force across the board on the separatist camp and others who believe that, if necessary, civil society should bring back the single candidacy that Artur Mas defended unsuccessfully and that killed the pact with ERC leader Oriol Junqueras for the 27S vote.

The Mas-Junqueras agreement meant that the president and CiU leader Artur Mas agreed to a formula of several candidacies, which will likely yield a better result for the republicans. In exchange, Junqueras agreed to postpone the date of the elections until after the summer of 2015. The ANC insists that the upcoming local elections in May are the first round of the 27S election.

The calendar of independence

The documents that the local chapters of the ANC were due to receive yesterday state that the process leading up to the proclamation of independence --if the separatist parties get a majority on 27S-- should last between 6 and 18 months. If Madrid refuses to negotiate, the ANC proposes independence in March 2016. However, this would be delayed until March 2017 in the event that Spain agrees to a negotiated process.

__________________

* N.T. The ANC (Catalan National Assembly) is the main grassroots, non-partisan, pro-independence organisation behind the massive September 11 events in Catalonia.