The mayors of Junts per Catalunya speak out. A delegation of municipal representatives of the party met this Monday with (Belgium) to ask it to accelerate a strategy that avoids the loss of power in the city councils. At the meeting they highlighted the need to move forward and put pressure to take the lead in forceful measures against multiple recidivism or . Issues related to the Catalan language, health, education and infrastructure have also been addressed, as reported by JxCat. The party points out that there is “concern about the lack of response from the Catalan and Spanish governments” to a series of problems suffered by citizens.
For weeks now, there has been discomfort in various sectors of Junts mayors and councilors due to the party’s lack of coordination when addressing issues that affect the dynamics of neighborhoods and municipalities. Junts maintains that it has tried to present the meeting as an accusatory forum against the PSOE and a blockade of the laws against multiple recidivism and against illegal occupation of homes.
The meeting held in Waterloo had been requested by a representation of mayors from Junts per Catalunya who, concerned about the party’s drift, wanted an appointment with Carles Puigdemont, president of the party and ideologue of the political strategy. Almost a month ago, the mayors were already the general secretary of Junts, and they conveyed their interest in having a meeting with Puigdemont. Turull is one of the most trusted people in the former president: Both planned the sudden irruption, and subsequent escape, in the summer of last year and he is usually the transmission belt between Catalonia and Belgium. However, this time the mayors insisted to the party’s general secretary that they discuss a series of issues directly with Puigdemont.
There are less than two years until the municipal elections and in a sector of Junts mayors there is the idea that the party is losing connection with the citizens. With Puigdemont in Belgium, despite the approval of the amnesty law, he is still unable to return to Catalonia due to the risk of being arrested, and controlling few spaces of power, Junts misses public projection. In addition, the party has to make the most of its seven seats, essential for the Government to shore up its majority in the lower house. The role of the party in the Parliament has been blurred and all this has caused the buzz to grow at the municipal level, where mayors and councilors detect a rapid progression of the far-right force Aliança Catalana.
Junts, like Convergència before it, has been accustomed to having a good presence in the municipalities, but the strength of the one controlled by Sílvia Orriols has the capacity to erode the municipal dominance of Junts.
The mayors attended the meeting with Puigdemont with the desire to present to him the need to have a clear track when it comes to reaching agreements with whoever is necessary. Aliança is, due to its far-right ideology, an uncomfortable partner for the Junts leadership, but the mayors ask to have the green light to assess whether a rapprochement is appropriate in certain municipalities. In the past municipal elections, Puigdemont vetoed the Junts agreements with the PSC, and it is also intended to reverse that red line.
