Puigdemont hints he will not be leader of the opposition in the Parlament

Carles Puigdemont suggests that, following the application of the amnesty law, he will not take on the role of leader of the opposition in the Parlament. He believes that a former president should not control the sitting president.

According to infobae.com, based on an interview with the EFE agency, the president of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, has hinted that he will not act as leader of the opposition when he can return to Catalonia after the application of the amnesty law. His argument is that a former president should not oversee the current president of the Generalitat.

The conversation took place at his home in Waterloo (Belgium) with journalist Jordi Basté, for the programme Pla seqüència on La 2 Cat. There, he gave hints about his immediate future, a matter that had previously generated doubts.

Puigdemont has a seat in the Parlament, but he has ruled out taking on the leadership of the opposition. He believes it is not correct for someone who has presided over the Generalitat to then control their successor, whoever that may be.

“It is not correct for someone who has been president of the Generalitat to then control the president, whoever they may be.”

The leader of Junts also states that the Catalonia he left in 2017 no longer exists. Therefore, when he returns, he wants to understand the reality for himself and, above all, listen to the new generations.

Regarding his escape after the unilateral declaration of independence, he explains that he left by car late on October 29, the day of Sant Narcís, and spent the first night at the Hotel Chambord in Brussels. He asserts that he did not travel in the boot, but rather sat in the back seat.

According to his account, his priority was to protect the institution of the presidency of the Generalitat. He maintains that he was willing to stay away for life to avoid an image of the president handcuffed in front of a Spanish judge.

Puigdemont recounts that, to check for surveillance, he had a Belgian car cross the Spanish border without warning. They parked it in front of his home in Sant Julià de Ramis (Girona) and, according to him, no one stopped it either on the way there or back.

On August 8, 2024, the day of the investiture of Salvador Illa, he attempted to enter the Parlament from the centre of Barcelona. Upon seeing the Parque de la Ciutadella fortified by the police, he chose to flee via Badalona and the Maresme.

He also recounts that the security of his residence is managed by two volunteers who take turns and stay in a small apartment within the house. The rent, he claims, is paid through donations channeled through a Belgian organization.

Finally, Puigdemont announces that, upon returning to Catalonia, the first thing he will do is visit the cemetery of Amer (Girona) to see his parents, who passed away during his stay in Belgium.