Carles Puigdemont could be Junts candidate in snap Catalan election
Former Catalan president now living in Belgium could return if amnesty law approved
After Catalan president Pere Aragonès shocked everyone by calling for a snap election in Catalonia following the rejection of the 2024 budget, speculation about potential candidates erupted.
Catalan pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya has suggested Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalan president now living in Belgium, as its candidate for the May 12 elections.
"With the proposed calendar, [Puigdemont] will be able to be in Catalonia when the new president is elected in parliament," said Jordi Turull, secretary general of Junts.
However, for Puigdemont to return to Catalonia and stand as a candidate, the amnesty law, which will be voted on Thursday in the Spanish Congress, must be approved.
Lawmakers in the Spanish Congress will vote on the amnesty law on Thursday. It's expected to be approved following a deal between Spain's ruling Socialists and Catalan pro-independence parties Esquerra Republicana and Junts per Catalunya.
Puigdemont himself said that he would be "very excited" to run in the election. Speaking to the media from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Puigdemont said that it seems "reasonable" for him to be able to attend the investiture debate because, considering the calendar "compatible" with that of the amnesty law.
However, the former president avoided making any definitive decision: "The day I make a decision I will communicate it," he said.