Elections in Spain: Catalan leader Carlos Puigdemont has gone from exile to become an unexpected hero of Spain’s regime.

BARCELONA – Most polls predicted the far-right would hold the key to the next government, but tight Spanish legislative elections have changed that. Catalan libertarian Carles Puigdemont as the unexpected protagonistSince his training may be important.

He too People’s Party (PP) won the election, but its result was not enough to achieve an absolute majority, not even with Vox’s far-right support in the end. greatly complicating their choices to rule.

This opens a path for the outgoing Prime Minister to Socialism Pedro SanchezTry it Negotiate a complex investment. He already has the support of the far-left Sumer Alliance, and now he must once again win the support of the various Basque, Catalan and Galician nationalist parties he considers regulars in Congress.

But this time Sanchez will need it too Decisive withdrawal of seven deputies achieved by the Junds per CatalunyaA formation established by Puigdemont, who He went into self-imposed exile in Belgium in 2017 after a failed secession attempt.

The leftist group Sumer announced on Monday that it had appointed one of its former leaders in Catalonia to open talks with Jundez. “Explore all avenues of the deal”.

However, this Monday, a day after the election, Spain’s prosecutor’s office has asked a judge to reissue an international search and warrant against the former president of Catalonia’s Generalitat.

“One day you are determined to form a Spanish government, the next Spain orders your arrest.”contradicted Puigdemont on Twitter, shortly after the prosecutor’s office requested the reactivation of his arrest warrant after a European judge rejected an appeal against his immunity waiver.

A representative of the hard line of separatism and contrary to the dialogue with Madrid, Junds accepted The level of formal opposition to the Sánchez governmentUnlike other major pro-independence parties, the ERC has become one of its regular supporters.

And, now in a key position, Junds leaders don’t want to make things easy.

“We will not make Pedro Sánchez president for nothingOur priority is Catalonia, it is not the personality of the Spanish state,” assured Miriam Nogueras, head of the list of congresses, the same Sunday night.

Being together, this He has already voted against Sanchez’s investment in 2020Reiterate that their positions have never changed, and They will not help the government of anyone who does not support the self-determination referendum in Catalonia and amnesty for those accused of their role in the partition effort.

In 2017 the Puigdemont-led government held a referendum despite a ban on justice, leading to one of the most serious political crises experienced in Spain in recent decades.

Sánchez made detente in Catalonia one of his priorities after coming to power in 2018. Pardon the nine pro-independence politicians in jailAnalysts estimate that the socialist leader will never give in to these demands

“They are absolutely unacceptable to any government or state-level party in Spain, either of these two conditions.”Ana Sofía Cardenal, professor of political science at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, assessed.

At Junts “they know it’s unacceptable, but they will go to the end,” he added.

However, the final result of the formulation depends Their own calculations and their close competition with ERCAlleging significant vote loss in past elections.

“If the Junds are responsible for the re-election, how is it going to take its toll in the polls? I think this is the question they are now asking themselves,” assesses Oriol Bartomus from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

If the formation finally assesses that a new study “could sink Esquerra”, it is reduced from 13 to 7 representatives in the Assembly, the researcher says, who will choose not to facilitate the Sánchez government.

Sunday’s unexpected result still leaves many open questions.

“It’s like a joke of fate,” said Ana Sofia Cardenal. “Many people from the PSOE have gone to the right on the Catalan issue” – referring to Sánchez’s concessions to the independence movement, highly controversial even within his own party. [Puigdemont] At the center of the political grouping of Spain’s personality“, he pointed out.

AFP and ANSA agencies

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