The rank and file of Catalan political party Crida Nacional have voted by a wide margin for their president, Jordi Sànchez, currently on trial for rebellion in Spain's Supreme Court, to head the electoral list for JxCat (Together for Catalonia) in the Spanish general election due on April 28th. Eighty-one per cent of voters from the Crida, pro-independence group conceived by Carles Puigdemont, decided that it was "opportune" for Sànchez to be the number one of the candidature for Barcelona after the Crida initiated a binding consultation on Friday by internet. Twenty-four hours later, 9,751 people had taken part and a result was declared.
Already, others of the Catalan leaders on trial in Spain's Supreme Court are set to stand in the different elections due in the spring - Oriol Junqueras is the number one candidate of the ERC (Catalan Republican Left) for both the European Parliament on May 26th and the Spanish Congress on April 28th, while Quim Forn is the PDeCAT (Catalan European Democratic Party) candidate for the Barcelona mayoralty on May 26th. However, for Sànchez to now become a candidate for the Spanish general election in April, he will first have to be backed by the PDeCAT.
The JxCat list will, in practice, be decided by an agreement between the current JxCat Catalan parliamentary group and the small Democrates Party, with a strong presence of those close to President Carles Puigdemont. The Crida will not be standing as a party in the Spanish general election, even if its president may head the list. The PDeCAT meets on Sunday to decide on the candidature.
Sánchez, in preventive jail and currently on trial in the Supreme Court for the protest on 20th September 2017 and the independence process centred on the October 1st referendum, is a founder and the president of the Crida, as well as being president of the JxCat parliamentary group.
In an interview published by the Catalan News Agency this Saturday, Sànchez says that after the elections the pro-independence parties "must try to create a space for dialogue that seeks the solution to the political conflict between Catalonia and Spain." "Self-determination as a reference and a referendum as a democratic instrument are the doors that will open the solution to us," he adds.
In addition, Sànchez rejects the proposal that Catalan pro-independence parties should stand in the 28th April election with the goal of blocking Spanish politics. "I like political action to be positively oriented. Most people want solutions and not attitudes of blockage," he argues.
Jordi Sànchez thanked the membership of the Crida for having endorsed him: "to those of you who voted Yes and to those who voted No!" he said in a tweet, also commenting positively on the "maximum transparency" of the "participative democratic model" exemplified by the Crida's internal party vote.