Homs hopes for the start of a new period of “dialogue, negotiation and pact” in Madrid after 20D
Francesc Homs, the candidate of Democràcia i Llibertat (“Democracy and Freedom”) in the Spanish elections of December 20, states that separatists don’t have the majority to “culminate” the independence process
BarcelonaWhat should be the priority of Catalonia’s pro-independence parties in the upcoming Spanish elections of December 20? Democràcia i Llibertat (1) candidate Francesc Homs suggests this: “to negotiate, to dialogue and to agree”. “I honestly think that a new period of more negotiations, dialogue and agreement will start in Spain”, Homs insisted during a radio interview with Spain’s Cadena SER.
All opinion polls hint at a new majority in Madrid: the arrival of new, emerging parties (Ciudadanos and Podemos) will mean that the PP will likely lose its majority. But, with the exception of Podemos, none of the other parties are willing to agree on a referendum for Catalonia, let alone negotiating Catalan independence.
A few weeks ago Homs stated that he was convinced that Spain would eventually sit down at a negotiating table to find a way out of the current muddle. Las Tuesday he noted that he “would like” a “crystal clear” referendum and he would accept the outcome, whatever it may be. The Democràcia i Llibertat candidate, whose slate was voted and confirmed last Saturday by the National Council of CDC, argued that there isn’t a pro-independence “majority” to “culminate” the secession process, at least not unilaterally, and he refused to use the word “disobedience”.
The former Minister for the Presidency remarked that “it is the CUP mayors who shun disobedience first and foremost”, as he slammed the far-left CUP for refusing to vote in Artur Mas as president of Catalonia. “If ten MPs expect to impose their policies, we might as well go to a snap election. We will see in the coming days whether there is a will to reach an agreement”, Homs noted.
One of the Junts pel Sí (“Together for Yes”) electoral vows during the campaign was to pass a motion to mark the start of the independence process (this was approved by the Catalan parliament on November 9), but some elements within CDC —including Homs— feel that the CUP’s stance means that this resolution id now “suspended”. “Although I won’t say it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on”, Homs was quick to point out.
It’s been a rocky start of the week for the secessionist bloc. The article written for this newspaper by acting Economy Minister Andreu Mas-Colell (where he asked to disregard the CUP’s conditions for an agreement) definitely rocked the negotiating table. The prospect of another snap election in March next year is becoming more likely as the negotiators fail to make any progress.
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(1) N.T. Democràcia i Llibertat (“Democracy and Freedom”) is the new umbrella slate under which Mas’ CDC will be running in the upcoming Spanish election in a coalition with other smaller separatist parties.
