CUP to support Puigdemont in upcoming vote of confidence

The unilateral referendum on independence won’t be a red line for radical left pro-independence CUP to renew its confidence in Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont. According to CUP MP Anna Gabriel, ‘how to culminate Catalonia’s political process’ can be discussed after the 28^th of September, the day when Puigdemont will submit himself to the vote of confidence in the Parliament. However, Gabriel insisted that the referendum would be ‘the best democratic instrument’ to move towards Catalonia’s independence. ‘Hopefully on the 28^th of September a referendum to be held in May or June next year will be called’, stated CUP MP Anna Gabriel this Monday, but added that ‘if this is not the case, CUP could support the vote of confidence’ anyway. According to Gabriel, CUP’s support to Puigdemont will be ‘a yes to continue this term of office’ and underline that ‘there are no reasons to call new elections’ in Catalonia.

Although Gabriel didn’t set the referendum as a ‘sine qua non’ condition for CUP renewing its confidence in Puigdemont, she stated that the ‘Spanish State forces this referendum to be unilateral’ and insisted that it is the most valid instrument for the citizens to express themselves and do so in a binding way. In order to avoid this referendum from being a repetition of the symbolic consultation held on the 9^th of November 2014, Gabriel insisted on the need to call for a real and binding referendum. A possibility which, according to her, is possible with ‘willingness, determination and conviction’.

Gabriel admitted that calling for a unilateral referendum might not be an easy decision to be taken within ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and understood Puigdemont’s reluctance to call for a referendum before having all the guarantees and conditions required to celebrate it. ‘I think that the President will analyse all the proposals’ continued Gabriel and praised Puigdemont’s predisposition to ‘listen, attend and analyse the opportunity, limitations and weakness of each proposal’.

Relations between CUP and ‘Junts Pel Sí’
Last week’s meeting between Puigdemont and CUP put the relationship between the latter and the pro-independence cross-party list, governing ‘Junts Pel Sí’, back on track ahead of the President’s vote of confidence. According to Gabriel, the aim is to establish ‘a new basis for coordination, debate and shared analysis’ that bears in mind the ‘differences’ between the two parties. Gabriel praised the meeting held with Puigdemont and defined it as ‘politics in the best sense’. ‘We shared our conception on how to finish this term of office and we analysed the Spanish political panorama’, she added.

‘Please, let’s work together on what depends on us and stop clogging up the works’, urged Catalan Government Spokeswoman, Neus Munté in August in reference to CUP’s pressure to meet with Puigdemont before guaranteeing their vote in favour of the Catalan President and also before negotiating the budget bill for 2017. ‘We are here because the bill for 2016 wasn’t passed, a bill which continues to be essential for launching social measures’, she emphasised. According to Munté, the extension of the bill for 2015 that CUP’s refusal forced the Government to apply affects both the Government’s national and social goals.

Regarding the relationship between the two pro-independence parties in the Parliament, governing cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and CUP, Munté admitted that ‘it has had its ups and downs’. However, she is hopeful that both parties have learnt from past mistakes and will avoid certain situations happening again, such as prolonging the negotiations until the very last moment.