“It happens to be my last (congress) as president,” he told activists from Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), gathered in Argelès-sur-Mer, a French coastal town. close to the border with Spain.
“Organizations must be able and know how to make replacements,” added Mr. Puigdemont, 59.
The separatist leader had announced in early May that he would not run again at the head of his formation because it needed, according to him, “a more involved presidency” than that which he could offer.
At the head of the Catalan regional government during the October 2017 secession attempt, Mr. Puigdemont fled shortly after to Belgium, where he has been installed for almost five years, in order to escape prosecution from Spanish justice.
The EU Court has just restored his MEP immunity at the end of May, which had been lifted by the European Parliament, but the separatist leader is still waiting for European justice to rule on the merits of this very complex case.
Catalonia was the scene in 2017 of one of the worst crises experienced by Spain since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975. The separatists then organized a self-determination referendum despite its ban by Spanish justice before declaring unilaterally the independence of the region.
Nine separatist leaders were sentenced in 2019 to up to 13 years in prison for their role in this secession attempt. The leftist Spanish government decided to pardon them last year, in the name of “reconciliation”.
Jordi Turull, who is to be officially appointed as the new general secretary of Junts on Saturday, was one of these imprisoned leaders.
He will form a tandem at the head of the party with the president of the Catalan regional parliament Laura Borràs, representative of the hard wing, who will take over the presidency of the party in place of Mr. Puigdemont.
Coming third in the regional elections last year, Mr. Puigdemont’s party is a member of the separatist regional government chaired by the other major independence party, ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia).
The tensions between these two parties are constant, Junts being very critical of the dialogue with the central government undertaken by ERC, central government support to the Spanish Parliament.
