Five years have passed since the creation of the Council for the Republic (today renamed Consell de la República, and the nuance is not minor). Five years is enough time to analyze the evolution of an organization in the hands of the ‘former president’ Carles Puigdemont to which ERC committed to JxCat in the government pact after the 2017 elections and which has had a more than eventful life, always analyzed in the independence movement as a tool (artifact, the most critical would say) at the service of a party, Together for Cataloniabut which was officially born for the so-called “internationalization” of the Catalan conflict after the march to European countries of Puigdemont and other ‘former ministers’ when declaring the unilateral declaration of independence that was unsuccessful. Today the Consell is in full reformulation and its future includes certain questions.
He was the then leader of the Government Quim Torra -supported by Junts- who drew all the pomp and significance of the creation of the Consell on October 30, 2018 in the Saló Sant Jordi of the Palau de la Generalitat. “The Consell per la República has to be chaired by ‘President’ Puigdemont. And given the importance in recent months of the internationalization of the ‘procés’, precisely because of all the actions that he has undertaken or in which he has been involved, to for us is essential,” said Torra. “The ‘exiles’ are recognized everywhere as democratic leaders who can travel all over the world except Spain,” he stressed.
But very soon CKD He put his foot on the wall. Before the Consell, the then head of Foreign Affairs of the Government, Ernest Maragallmade it clear that “of course” the Government would not finance the organization and that the only way would be voluntary “contributions”, as happens to the ANC or Òmnium Cultural.
The Consell tried and continues to try to represent the entire independence movement abroad. But also from the beginning ERC gave a very low profile to its representation in the Consell. Today, five years later, the hard core of the organization is controlled by Junts, given that both Puigdemont, president, and Toni Comin, vice president, are Junts MEPs. Besides, Antoni Castella, a member of the leadership, is a member of the Democratic Party in the JxCat group in the Parliament. Also Aurora Madaulavice president of post-convergent training, leads the organization, along with Lluís Llach, among others. Llach has been characterized by a very severe attack on the ERC leader, Oriol Junqueraswith whom he maintained a great alliance.
The CUP and ERC have been distancing themselves from the Consell. Anti-capitalists do not give formal support to this organization and are not, as such, in its direction. Esquerra has always maintained a low profile contact. In recent months, there has been the umpteenth attempt to bring together all the political and social actors of sovereignty under the umbrella of the Consell. ERC finally distanced itself from the operation when it confirmed that the intention was to build a story very close to that of Junts, especially in relation to the independence strategy to follow and the value of the 1-O referendum. The Consell stands as the guardian of the legitimacy of this consultation and maintains that these results are binding, so independence could be proclaimed. Republicans, however, have made it clear publicly that the 2017 referendum lacks sufficient legitimacy for such a secessionist proclamation, despite the fact that they then pushed for it to be raised.
These two positions are written and reiterated ad nauseam, in the independence movement. The Consell bases its work on the text “Preparem-nos”, cradle of the so-called “intelligent confrontation” that Puigdemont defends in Junts under the document “Reunim-nos”.
Puigdemont has rested his performances abroad in the Consell. His residence in Waterloo is dominated by a plaque with the name House of the Republic. And the legal battles that he has waged in Germany, Sardinia and Belgium against the arrest warrants issued by the Supreme Court They are some of the main milestones of his career, according to the Consell’s account. Furthermore, on a theoretical level, the organization maintains that it is the main bastion of the referendum and that it can carry out actions that the Government cannot allow due to the legal limit of the State.
The Consell has and has had undisputed leadership and has shown muscle in events such as the massive rally in Perpinyà in 2021 before thousands of people. On all these occasions, Puigdemont has charged against the State and against ERC. In Peripinyà the person in charge of carrying everything was the MEP Clara Ponsatíwho finally also left the Consell considering that it is “subject to the dynamics of regional politics and the Government.”
Puigdemont launched his darts very directly a year ago on the fifth anniversary of the referendum, in a message in which he warned Aragonès that “while autonomy is being managed, independence must be prepared” and insisted that the referendum was valid and “we don’t have to do it again.” At that event, representatives of ERC such as Carme Forcadell, imprisoned for the referendum, were booed with cries of “traitor.” Puigdemont remained silent on the matter.
But the Council He has not only had conflicts with other pro-independence actors. The very structure of this entity has generated many internal headaches. And it has decided to create something similar to institutions parallel to those of Catalonia: a government, a parliament and a series of local organizations. All of this has caused the Assembly, what would be the parallel parliament, to question the decisions of the leadership (of the government, to continue with the institutional simile) in long and tortuous telematic meetings in which the functioning of a hemicycle has been recreated. , with a presidency, a table and a series of speaking turns in which even the smallest internal detail has been discussed.
This has led to a very harsh letter from 30 of the 130 representatives of the assembly (chosen in some cases by a small number of votes in the local bases) accusing the management of authoritarianism and questionable economic management. Previously, Comin He had already announced internally a restructuring that in practice cuts the wings of the assembly and concentrates power in the management.
Comin He repeats publicly that the Consell is decisive and that if instead of more than 100,000 members it had one million, the independence of Catalonia would be closer. Once internal power is placed in the hands of the leadership, the future of this organization is uncertain, especially if the amnesty and Puigdemont’s return to Catalonia takes place.
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Furthermore, the consultation by which the weight of the assembly was eliminated had a minimal participation. And the objective of bringing together sovereignty, also with the help of Puigdemont, has not been achieved, as happened with another organization, La Crida.
He CouncilFor the moment, he remains a creator of opinion and political position in the independence movement with theses very close to those of Together. If there is an agreement and Puigdemont returns to Catalonia, this association will lose a good part of its strength and its aura of external struggle for independence. What is certain is that ‘president’ Aragonès will not organize an event like Torra’s in Palau these days to celebrate the five years of the Consell.