While the Spanish government maintains its imposition of Article 155, the independence movement continues to complicate the dialogue by electing an independentist as the new President of the Generalitat

The political situation in Catalonia remains unclear after almost five months after the elections were held. The inability to declare as president a politician in exile, the Euroorden, the entry IGNORE INTO jail of some and the departure to Switzerland of others has hindered political dialogue in a Chamber of Deputies divided by the independence movement.

Leer en español: Quim Torra: el candidato a la Generalitat que causa incertidumbre en Cataluña

After more than 100 days of uncertainty, JuntsxCat (Junts per Catalunya), led by Carles Puigdemont, has proposed a new candidate as President of the Generalitat: Joaquim 'Quim' Torra. According to a video released by Puigdemont on Thursday, May 10, the presidency of Torra "is a period of provisionality, marked by the conditions of the State: political prisoners, exiles and the permanent threat of the application of the article 155 of the Constitution".

Reactions to this proposal were not long in coming, as Torra is considered a radical nationalist who has made his anti-Spanish stance clear in social networks. Although he is the first candidate proposed who may be eligible because he does not have pending legal proceedings and can attract CUP radicalism to the new government, at the same time he is criticized by the opposition. This is because their pronouncements against the Spaniards have been harshly qualified.

In the session of the Parliament on May 12, the opposition led by Inés Arrimadas harshly criticized the nomination of the next candidate for President of the Generalitat, since she believes that his political stances hinder dialogue with the central government and do not represent the non-independentists. In her official Twitter account, the Ciudadanos party leader said: "Torra has xenophobic and humiliating articles against most Catalans and above Puigdemont can vote for him from Berlin after giving a blow to democracy and escape. The Government of the PP does not present resource of unconstitutionality before the TC. Amazing".

On the other hand, Quim Torra, the candidate for president, took advantage of his intervention on Saturday to indicate that if he is president he will work for a republic, although he invites dialogue to Mariano Rajoy and Jean-Claude Juncker. Torra's interventions during the last few days have tried to appease the spirits of those who have reviewed their Twitter history and found strong messages against the Spaniards that were quickly erased.

After the first session on Saturday in which he has not been elected president (he obtained 66 votes out of the 68 he needed, according to the newspaper El País), in the second session on Monday, May 14, he was officially nominated. It is to remember the pressure imposed by the law, because of not having a president elected before next May 22, elections must be held again in Catalonia.

Who is Quim Torra?

Quim Torra, from Blanes, is a Catalan lawyer and strong supporter of the independence movement. Although his political history is not very long, during the last months he has joined to the cause of Carles Puigdemont and JuntsXCat and was elected as a member of this political movement the past elections of December 21. Torra, age 55, worked for almost two decades in the private industry, and in 2008 he founded an editorial focused on reviewing Catalan texts written during the Civil War and the Dictatorship. In addition, between 2011 and 2015 he held public positions in Ciutat Vella and El Born (Barcelona), both focused on promoting culture.
 

Latin American Post | Laura Delgado

Translated from "Quim Torra: el candidato a la Generalitat que causa incertidumbre en Cataluña"