The former mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias, believes that the former president of the Generalitat and leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, will not run in future elections when he returns from Brussels, and has emphasized that the party is "in renewal."
"I believe that he will not run in an election, but he must make a decision that is not easy, that helps governance" and that makes visible the mistreatment and persecution that, in his opinion, Catalunya has suffered, which is why he believes that those responsible for all this must apologize, he said in an interview with Europa Press.
After recalling that Puigdemont has already ruled out acting as the leader of the opposition in the Parlament, Trias has expressed his conviction that, once he returns, he will act with full freedom: "He will be at the head of a party, and I completely agree that he continues to preside over it and then he must decide what he wants to do in politics."
"I believe that it is a party that is in renewal," Trias reiterated, highlighting the emergence of new references, starting with the party's candidate in Barcelona, Jordi Martí, along with other leaders from the Catalan capital; the spokesperson for Junts in the Parlament, Salvador Vergés, and the congresswoman Pilar Calvo.
In his opinion, the entire cadre of Junts must take charge of rebuilding and strengthening the project, preserving its identity as a nationalist party in favor of independence and defender of the interests of Catalunya, and he predicts that they will do it again, although with a different approach.
"Now there must be people who lead how we do it differently. Because the philosophy is the same. What changes is the way of doing it," he opined.
"No one is surplus" in the new stage of Junts
When asked whether it is necessary to renew the leadership to face this new phase, he responded that it is Junts who must resolve it internally, but that "no one is surplus," according to his words.
He also sees it as reasonable that Puigdemont could return from Brussels after the general elections on November 29 because "it cannot be that he becomes a tool of bickering" when, in his view, it is an act of justice that he can return.
Once he is back in Catalunya, Trias argues that the Govern must provide him with "a recognition of justice to a president who had to flee and who returns," and points out that this will require institutional imagination.
"This happens with a president of the Generalitat who agreed to be put in prison. It is a rather unusual case," he emphasized, referring to the president of the Govern, Salvador Illa, for whom he has asked everyone to rise to the occasion.
Reunify the heir space of Convergència
After defining himself as a convinced convergent who would not have dissolved the party, he expressed his satisfaction with the path taken so far and has claimed not to underestimate what the disappeared Convergència represented: "Now our job is to achieve that the environment we had created is recreated."
Although he does not consider that Junts has strayed from the convergent ideology, he positively values the steps to reunify the political space after the agreements with Demòcrates, Convergents, and the Partit Nacionalista de Catalunya (PNC), and warns that they would be mistaken if they did not integrate them.
Relationship with Aliança Catalana
Regarding Aliança Catalana (AC), he admits that he is puzzled that a part of the Catalan electorate supports their proposals when, in his opinion, it is not clear what they intend to do, and for that reason, he shows himself in favor of lifting the sanitary cordon and dialoguing with them.
"The content raises great questions for me. Acknowledging that she (Sílvia Orriols) is a leading person and has a very good ability to explain herself. I am eager to see if this is put at the service of the country or of a person," he stated.
He also believes that Junts must keep the door open to converse and reach agreements with AC as long as it does not imply renouncing their principles: "We must have a normal relationship, which does not mean that we yield on our proposals."
Despite everything, he insists that it is essential for Junts not to be unsettled by the growth of AC in the polls and recommends that they focus on clearly explaining what they are and what they do to convince the citizenry that they are "necessary."
The role of Jordi Martí in Barcelona
Seven months before the municipal elections, Trias takes for granted that Jordi Martí will be the head of the list for Junts in Barcelona and assures that the formation is providing him with "all the support."
He is convinced that he will achieve a notable result and has options to contest the upper part against the current mayor, Jaume Collboni, although he admits that the challenge is complex. He also advances that he will participate in all the events where he is required and that he will be the one to close Martí's list.