The Catalan president in exile has made a call for hope. MEP Carles Puigdemont shared a message with his Instagram followers on Wednesday in which he took stock of the current situation facing Catalonia's independence movement, a "present" which he describes as "lethargic and grey". In his social media post, which consisted of a portrait of himself accompanied by a brief text, the president encouraged the population to rebel, "lift your gaze beyond" the current moment and "achieve what we decided all together on October 1st, 2017." In this way, Puigdemont is confident that "thousands and thousands of Catalans" will accompany him on this journey. "Let's go!", he concludes.
Translation into English: "Tired, demotivated, disillusioned... I understand and at times I even share this, but I advise everyone to lift your gaze to look beyond, and exchange partisan calculations for the good of the country; change distrust in the one beside you for companionship; swap anger for initiative. Because only together, with a shared roadmap, inspirational, exciting, hopeful and groundbreaking, can we achieve what we decided all together on 1st October 2017." "I rebel in the face of this lethargic and grey present that some want to impose on us, and I trust that thousands and thousands of Catalans will accompany me. Let's go!" - Carles Puigdemont
"I rebel"
Thus, Puigdemont acknowledges in his message the difficult situation facing pro-independence Catalans, whom he describes as "tired", "demotivated" and "disillusioned", something he connects partly to the leaders, set on "partisan calculations". The president's recommendation to the Catalan people is, precisely, to transcend the struggles of current politicians and change "distrust in the one beside you for companionship" and "anger for initiative". In this respect, Puigdemont once again calls for the unity of the sovereignty movement, "because only together, with a shared roadmap, inspirational, exciting, hopeful and groundbreaking" will it be possible to fulfill the mandate of the Catalan independence referendum of 1st October, 2017, he says. "I rebel against this lethargic and grey present that some want to impose on us, and I trust that thousands and thousands of Catalans will accompany me. Let's go!" he concludes.
Not surprised
Expressing indignation, but not surprised. That is how Carles Puigdemont reacted to the fact that Spain's senior judicial organ, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), decided not to open any disciplinary action against the so-called Twitter judge, Carlos Antonio Vegas, who insulted the independence movement using a false identity on the platform. This decision was announced yesterday after the Catalan government laid a complaint in December against tweets which advocated jailing the current Catalan executive under Pere Aragonès, as well as calling for judges to block any judicial initiative by the Catalan government, "whether it is in the right or not". In response to this judicial decision, the president in exile responded forcefully on Twitter, affirming: "The Spain that constitutionalists like so much is this one. There is none other. The one that harms all Catalans with the poor execution of investments, the one that stigmatizes Catalan speakers, the one that protects criminals wearing gowns or badges..."