Spanish Ministry for Home Affairs won’t register the new ‘Catalan Democratic Party’

Barcelona (CNA).- ‘Catalan Democratic Party’, the name chosen for the reinvented liberal ‘Convergència’ (CDC), is not likely to be registered in the party register. This is what the Spanish Ministry for Home Affairs warned this Thursday and pointed to the same reason that ‘Democràtes de Catalunya’, the party which split from former CDC partners Christian Democrats ‘Unió’, put forward. They both consider the name ‘Catalan Democratic Party’ too similar to ‘Demòcrates de Catalunya’ and that this therefore may lead to confusion. The Ministry pointed out that there was a previous attempt to register a party with a similar name in 2015 and that it was rejected for the same reasons. Therefore, “the precedent shows that this name can’t be registered”, the Ministry stated. 

Although the decision hasn’t yet been made, the Spanish Ministry for Home Affairs has interfered in CDC’s re-foundation process and has done so by backing ‘Demòcrates de Catalunya’s argument. 

However, the candidate to be coordinator of the ‘Catalan Democratic Party’, Marta Pascal, insisted on the party’s will to keep this name and register it. Pascal also pointed out that there has not yet been any official communication from the Spanish Ministry. “There might be precedents but also in other senses. The register is much vibrant”, she stated. Pascal used a conciliatory tone and assured that the ‘Catalan Democratic Party’ will continue to talk with ‘Demòcrates de Catalunya’ and is “willing to collaborate” despite the ‘Unió’ splinter opting for “confrontation”. “We are calm, we are well aware of what is our mandate and we believe that we have to continue defending that the party can be registered using these terms”, she concluded.