Puigdemont: 'Ready for new Spanish elections but also to negotiate historic agreement'

Pro-independence Junts party is "ready for a new Spanish election, but also for talks for a historic agreement," former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont announced on Tuesday during a press conference held in Brussels.

In a crowded room, dozens of supporters and journalists awaited the party founder's position, key to the immediate future of politics in Spain after July's election resulted in a hung parliament. 

Acting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez needs support from Junts in congress if he is to form another left-wing coalition government led by the Socialists.

Puigdemont indicated his party is willing to enter into negotiations but only if certain conditions are met.

Amnesty

An amnesty for pro-independence figures – including Puigdemont, exiled in Brussels – would be a "prerequisite" before any talks to elect Sánchez.

The MEP called for "the complete and effective abandonment of the judicial process against the independence movement and pro-independence figures."

"This is within the reach of the Spanish parliament, via an amnesty law," he said.

Puigdemont warned that conditions for negotiations are not yet in place and asked that the process for eventual negotiations be "serious, honest and ambitious."

Negotiation would also depend on self-determination, which he said was necessary to "solve the fundamental problem."

Spain must "recognize and respect the democratic legitimacy of independence," he said.

The amnesty that should be approved in congress, as Puigdemont said, should also target the repression suffered by Catalan pro-independence figures, from those charged with organizing a non-binding self-determination referendum in 2014 and the vote on October 1, 2017.

All these requests, however, will not be possible if no organization supervises the accomplishment of the deal, as the "lack of trust among parties" makes reaching an agreement difficult, Puigdemont said.

Avoiding a new election "only depends on the willingness of politicians," he added.

Sumar: Amnesty "difficult but not impossible"

Congress approving an amnesty before a vote on Sánchez's investiture would be "difficult but not impossible," according to a negotiator for Sumar, who would be the junior party in a potential two-party left-wing coalition. 

"For it to pass, the Socialists should move now," Jaume Asens told Catalunya Ràdio on Tuesday morning, "because it should be registered in mid-September so that it can be ready before November 27."

On the other hand, the Socialists and Junts agreeing on a referendum on Catalan independence "doesn't seem possible right now," Asens said.