A cool-headed move among the leadership of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC). In the midst of the internal crisis that the pro-independence organization is going through, which could reach a dramatic moment this Saturday with the possible resignation of a significant number of the national secretariat, Uriel Bertran has announced a decision that might serve to avoid the break-up. The current coordinator of the committee for strategy and discourse was due to become vice-president of the organization from May, thus replacing the current holder, Jordi Pesarrodona. But in the end it won't happen like that.
In a tweet, Uriel Bertran has announced that he is renouncing the agreement to replace the current vice-president Pesarrodona, whose work throughout these months he also praises. "He's done a good job, and in order for all voices to continue, I am announcing that I renounce the plan to replace him and I will continue as coordinator of the committee," he explained. With this step, Bertran is trying to calm temperaments and reconcile the officialist line with the internal critical current: while he is close to the president Dolors Feliu, Pesarrodona represents the dissident group. In this way, the critics would maintain a significant position in the senior leadership of the entity. The decision was not spontaneous, but was already shared with the other national secretaries during the meeting last Saturday.
Fa prop d’un any el Secretariat Nacional de l’@assemblea acordà q Jordi Pesarrodona @Pesacapsada fos VP el 1er any de mandat i jo el 2n. Ha fet una bona feina i per tal que totes les veus continuïn faig públic q renuncio a substituir-lo i continuaré de coordinador de Comissió
— Uriel Bertran (@uriel_bertran) February 17, 2023
Translation:
"Almost a year ago the National Secretariat of the @assemblea agreed that Jordi Pesarrodona @Pesacapsada would be VP for the 1st year of the mandate and I would take over for the 2nd. He has done a good job and in order for all voices to continue, I hereby announce that I am giving up the plan to replace him and I will continue as the coordinator of the Committee"— Uriel Bertrand
A shared vice-presidency
The ANC elections held last May yielded some surprises. Despite the fact that Pesarrodona had prevailed among the votes of the ANC grass-roots membership, the subsequent election by the 68 members of the National Secretariat chose Dolors Feliu to take the role of president. And when it came to deciding the vice-presidency, the situation was even more agonizing: after two ties between Pesarrodona and Bertran, the organization decided that the first would occupy the vice-presidency for the first year of the mandate, and the second would take over for the second year. A decision that would have meant the relief of Pesarrodona from next May, giving even less voice to the internal critical current of which the former Sant Joan de Vilatorrada municipal councillor is part.
A critical current that, over the last few weeks, has stirred the specter of a split in the major pro-independence organization. First, the plan to present a non-party electoral candidacy in the next elections led to massive controversy, with the proposal being defeated very narrowly. Dissidents were pitted against the officialist line and accusations of "authoritarianism" were made against the organization's leadership. In this context, the meeting of the National Secretariat scheduled for this Saturday was emerging as a critical moment in the crisis, with the resignation en bloc of the critics a possibility. Now it remains to be seen if Uriel Bertran's decision will be enough to avoid a schism.