Exiled Catalan separatist figurehead Carles Puigdemont on Monday said his party had decided to withdraw its crucial support for Spain’s minority left-wing government, throwing its future into doubt.
After an inconclusive 2023 election in which the Socialists finished second, the support of Junts per Catalunya’s seven MPs proved decisive to allow Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to stay on for another term.
In return, Sanchez agreed to propose an amnesty law for those prosecuted for their role in the northeastern Catalonia region’s 2017 secession bid that Puigdemont led, sparking Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
But the pro-business Junts believes the Socialists have not met their promises and maintained that the deal did not mean blanket support for the leftist coalition’s programme.
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The leadership of Junts “has decided to withdraw its support for the Socialist party (and) take on the role of opposition”, Puigdemont told a party meeting in southern France.
“We are not willing to continue supporting a government that does not help Catalonia,” he said.
The party’s membership will vote on the decision this week, and if it ratifies the move the government will “not have a budget, nor the capacity to govern”, Puigdemont added.
Although parliament approved the amnesty law last year, it does not apply to Puigdemont because he faces embezzlement charges that do not come under its scope, preventing his return to Spain.
Puigdemont has remained in Belgian exile while he waits for the Constitutional Court to rule on his appeal against his exclusion from the amnesty law.
The Socialists defended their record in Catalonia on Monday, highlighting efforts on the amnesty law, making Catalan an official EU language and the transfer of powers to the region.
“We hope that Junts acts sensibly and thinks about the Catalan people,” said Lluisa Moret Sabido, a spokeswoman for the Catalan Socialist party.
