The “Consell per la República” has 101,913 registered members, despite the fact that in order to register, personal details must be given, and this generates caution in an extremely peaceful and democratic movement that has suffered repression against 3,300 people. They were vindictively sentenced to 9 to 13 years in prison, although, due to pressure from European institutions, they were released after almost 4 years in prison. Imprisonment is what the other members of the government who stayed in Catalonia had to endure. 121 people were elected, 70% of them women, who have already chosen a president of the assembly and will have to choose a president of the “Consell per la República” –until now, it has been provisionally the President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, during whose mandate the 2017 a referendum was held, and who went into exile in Belgium to avoid being unjustly imprisoned. The duly registered people voted on-line for the 500 candidates who presented themselves on open lists. The “Consell per la República” wants to be a government of Catalonia in exile, based in Waterloo (Belgium), to prepare the foundations of the future Catalan Republic by avoiding the fierce and antidemocratic Spanish repression. "And then we'll be back where we started.Elections for the Assembly of Representatives of the “Consell per la República” (Council for the Republic, ) were held from 29-31 October. We knew they would react but not as strongly as they did," she said, adding that she believed the pro-independence parties would win the December election. Her concerns echo a deep mistrust many Catalans have of politicians in Madrid that has deepened since the arrests and after the national police used truncheons and rubber bullets to thwart voting in the illegal independence referendum on Oct. One protester, Antonia Aguilera, 63, said she was concerned the elections wouldn't be fair and would be manipulated by the Spanish government. 11 to protest the detentions.Ī rally in Barcelona on Sunday, however, attracted just a few hundred people, a long way from the hundreds of thousands to join pro-independence marches in October, many waving the regional flag and carrying protest signs. The other eight could remain in custody for up to four years.Īccording to the GAP3 survey, 59 percent believed legal action against Puigdemont was unjustified while 69.3 percent said that the jailing of the Catalan politicians would give the independence cause a boost at the ballot box.Ĭatalan civic groups Asamblea Nacional Catalana and Omnium Cultural - whose leaders were imprisoned last month on sedition charges - called for a general strike on Nov. One member of the dismissed Cabinet, Santi Vila, was freed after paying bail of 50,000 euros ($58,035) on Friday. On Thursday, nine members of his sacked cabinet were ordered by Spain's High Court to be held on remand pending an investigation and potential trial. On Saturday, Puigdemont called for a united Catalan political front in the face of the elections and has said he might run as a candidate from Brussels. Sacked regional leader Carles Puigdemont travelled to Belgium shortly after Madrid took control and now faces an arrest warrant for rebellion, sedition, misuse of public funds, disobedience and breach of trust relating to the secessionist campaign.īrussels prosecutors planned a news conference at 1300 GMT on Puigdemont, a spokesman for the Belgian authority said on Sunday. Voter participation would rise to a record of 83 percent, the GAD3 poll showed. 3 and published in La Vanguardia newspaper, pro-independence parties ERC, PDECat and CUP would take between 66 and 69 seats in the 135-seat parliament.Ī second poll taken over the same period for the conservative newspaper La Razon echoed the GAD3 survey, showing pro-independence parties would capture the most votes though still fall just shy of a parliamentary majority with 65 seats. 27.Ĭatalonia's statehood push has tipped Spain into its worst political crisis since its return to democracy four decades ago as surging pro-secession sentiment in the region has in turn kindled nationalism across the country.Īccording to the GAD3 survey of 1,233 people conducted between Oct. 21 election after firing the previous government and imposing direct rule over the autonomous region following a unilateral declaration of independence by Catalan lawmakers on Oct. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called the Dec. Pro-Catalonia independence parties will combine for the most votes in regional election in December though may fall just short of a majority needed to revive the secession campaign, two polls showed on Sunday.