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After the success of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) in mobilizing the pro-independence public on the Diada of September 11th, the organization has strengthened its strategy to speed up the independence process. It is in this context that the ANC has initiated a round of contacts with parties, civil society groups and key figures from the pro-independence world, with the aim of strengthening bonds within its partners in the same political space. This Wednesday afternoon it was the turn of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) - the pro-independence party which has been in most frontal disagreement with the Assembly over the past two weeks. The two delegations, led by the vice-president of the ANC, Jordi Pesarrodona (president Dolors Feliu is in New York for a conference on state repression), and the ERC party spokesperson, Marta Vilalta, met for more than an hour in Parliament. The mood of the meeting, however, was quite austere.

Pesarrodona limited himself to claiming the need to build "bridges of conversation" between the parties and the civil society groups that make up the pro-independence movement in order to find "points of convergence". "We all agree that we have to talk because we have a very clear shared purpose, which is independence," he said, preferring not to enter into criticism of ERC. The only criticism was limited to noting that there is "quite a distance" between both parties, also pointing out the importance of people being mobilized. "We see that the parties, as they did before October 1st, obey the people when they push from below, so it is the mobilized public that will push the parties." Furthermore, he insisted that the entity's proposal to activate Catalonia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) during the second half of 2023 still stands, and that they will not change their roadmap. "We remain determined to confront the state because we see a window is open. If not, we will call for elections", he warned, repeating the statement of intent made by Dolors Feliu during her speech at the Diada rally.

The proposal to re-activate the 2017 UDI next year was made by the ANC president herself during last week's meeting between her organization, together with Òmnium Cultural and the Association of Municipalities for Independence, and Catalan president Pere Aragonès (ERC). Both the president of the Generalitat and other the two organizations present closed the door to this option. Similarly, Together for Catalonia (Junts) also showed its reluctance to pursue the proposal.

Meeting with the CUP

Following the Diada, the ANC announced that it would meet with the pro-independence political forces over the next few days. The meeting with Junts was immediate, and this Wednesday, prior to the meeting with the Republicans, the organization met with the third of the pro-independence parliamentary parties, the CUP, but without offering subsequent statements to the media, at the request of the anti-capitalist political force. The only mention was in a tweet in which the ANC explained that the meeting fulfilled its commitment to the "round of contacts" with parties and institutions "to assess the success of the demonstration on September 11th and find strategies and scenarios to advance towards independence".