The European Parliament’s head spokesperson and director-general of communications, Jaume Duch Guillot, will become the new regional minister for European Union Affairs and External Action in the newly formed Catalan government.
Salvador Illa, leader of the Socialist Party (PSC), will head the government.
As a representative of the European Parliament, formerly a lawyer, university professor, and journalist, Duch has repeatedly been a vocal advocate for the official status of the Catalan language in Europe, while warning of any risks of the rise of national-oriented forces.
Duch’s candidacy came as Illa, who won Catalonia’s snap election on 12 May, was forced to negotiate with the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and other pro-independence formations to gain power. In exchange for their support, Illa had to make serious political and economic concessions that strengthened Catalonia’s self-government.
He took office on Saturday, 10 August, at the Generalitat de Catalunya (regional government) building in Barcelona. Many analysts suggested on Monday that his government, with 16 regional ministers, marked a new era in Catalan politics.
Puigdemont’s fate
However, Illa’s inauguration was marred by scandal on Thursday, 8 August, caused by the brief presence in Barcelona of the former Catalan president and separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, just an hour before the Catalan parliament voted for Illa.
Puigdemont, the leaderof the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party, announced his intention to attend the plenary session of parliament to inaugurate Illa, Catalonia’s first non-sovereign president in nearly 15 years. However, fearing arrest, Puigdemont eventually abandoned the idea.
Despite the fact that Puigdemont was under a national arrest warrant, the Mossos d’ Esquadra (Catalan regional police) failed to arrest him.
I have already said that I never intended to surrender voluntarily or to facilitate my arrest, because I find it unacceptable that I am being persecuted for political reasons, and moreover the amnesty law is not being applied.
His “disappearing trick” was to quickly flee the centre of Barcelona in a white car belonging to a regional policeman, with a wheelchair in the passenger seat. The leader wore a straw hat to escape from agents who were preparing to arrest him shortly after his speech to some 3,500 separatist supporters in the Catalan capital, according to local media.
The Mossos d’Esquadra arrested three agents last week on suspicion of their involvement in Puigdemont’s escape who left Spain and arrived in Waterloo.
