BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) – The exiled former leader of Catalonia on Tuesday said that all judicial cases targeting Catalan separatism must be dropped as a condition for his party to negotiate the support of its lawmakers for a new Spanish prime minister in parliament.
Speaking in Brussels, Puigdemont, who is a fugitive from Spanish justice, said any support from his party would require significant concessions from acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists or Spaniards will have to go to the polls once again.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, whose conservative People’s Party won the most votes in the July 23 election, will take the first stab at an investiture vote on Sept. 27, although his chances of winning are seen as slim as the party is a strong opponent of any concessions to separatists.
Puigdemont called on Spain to respect the Catalan independence movement’s legitimacy, create a mechanism to recognize and guarantee compliance with agreements reached and abandon judicial actions against the pro-independence movement.
“Be prepared for elections but also for negotiations which could end with a historic agreement,” Puigdemont said. “We have not endured all these years just to save a legislature.”
Catalan should also be recognized as an official language within the European Union’s institutions, Puigdemont said.
The seven votes of Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya party are crucial for Sanchez’s chances of earning another term. If they don’t back the bid, there will likely be a repeat election in Spain.
(Reporting by Bart Biesemans in Brussels, Inti Landauro and Belen Carreno in Madrid; Writing by David Latona and Charlie Devereux; Editing by Andrei Khalip)
