Deposed minister prefers new elections to living ‘under supervision’
The former JxCat MP called on the pro-independence bloc to act with “coordination” and “sincerity”
Catalan Minister of Education Clara Ponsatí, dismissed by the Spanish government following a declaration of independence and since then exiled in Brussels, has addressed a possibility in the aftermath of the December 21 elections: a whole new round of voting. And Ponsatí believes that this outcome would be preferable to remaining under the Spanish government’s enforcement of Article 155.
A difficult road to the presidency
Catalonia is in the throes of securing a president in order to form a new government. Following the pro-independence bloc winning parliamentary majority, the Parliament speaker officially nominated Carles Puigdemont. The presidential candidate is in Belgium, though, and almost certainly will face arrest if he sets foot in Spain again.
Meanwhile, Rajoy’s government has challenged his bid for the post, and the Spanish Constitutional Court is yet to decide on the outcome. Waiting for the judicial decision, the parliament speaker postponed the investiture debate; after this session happens, there is a two-month grace period to secure a president of Catalonia.
An autonomous community without autonomy
Calling elections once again, said Ponsatí in a radio interview from Belgium on Saturday, would be preferable to forming a “guarded government” in an autonomous community “under supervision.”
The education minister is referring to the Spanish government’s implementation of the constitutional Article 155, the so-called ‘nuclear option’ that seized Catalonia’s self-rule, also ousting her and the rest of the Catalan cabinet. And the only foreseeable way out of the Spanish government controlling Catalan institutions, at this point, seems to be forming a government.
Ponsatí warns against “simply asking forgiveness”
Ponsatí herself stepped down from her post as MP for Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya party (JxCat) in January to secure independence in the Catalan hemicycle. But in her interview on Saturday, Ponsatí warned against giving in, calling for a continued fight for independence.
“Simply asking forgiveness, and not skipping any arbitrary imposition from the Spanish Constitutional Court, only to be able to go back to the office and hold high positions with chauffeurs,” she detailed, “would be a very bad option.”
A much better option, urged the dismissed official, would be for the forces in favor of a Catalan state act in a “coordinated” and “sincere” way, adding that the levels of confidence and communication “could use some work.”