Radical CUP party wants ¡°ensemble cast¡± to head Catalan executive

The small radical party that holds the key to the new Catalan government following Sunday¡¯s regional elections wants the executive to have ¡°three or four¡± premiers.

The number-two official at CUP, Anna Gabriel, said on Thursday that the new regional government could have ¡°an ensemble presidency¡± made up of ¡°three or four profiles with equivalent weight¡± who would share power.

This innovative scenario would unblock the impasse in which Catalan politics finds itself after Artur Mas won the parliamentary election with his Junts pel S¨ª bloc, but failed to secure enough seats for an absolute majority.

Nobody has talked about burying anybody, we are not asking for Mas¡¯s political death¡±

CUP official Anna Gabriel

Mas, the most visible face of the pro-independence movement, now needs support from the fringe party to secure that majority. But CUP leaders, who disagree with Junts pel S¨ª on everything except the desire for Catalan independence, said before and after their campaign run that they would not support Mas¡¯s reinstatement.

Other political forces in the regional parliament are either openly anti-independence or support different solutions halfway between the current status quo and outright secession.

Two days after the election, CUP leader Antonio Ba?os said that ¡°we are undertaking a new period and we cannot do it with the image that represents cutbacks in Catalonia sitting in the premiership.¡±

Ba?os also called the results of the election ¡°a victory of anti-capitalism and feminism.¡±

But despite CUP¡¯s refusal to support Mas¡¯s investiture, it left the door open to ¡°reach a deal.¡±

In statements to Catalunya R¨¤dio on Thursday morning, Anna Gabriel rejected claims that CUP wants Mas to leave as a necessary condition to support Junts pel S¨ª.

¡°Nobody has talked about burying anybody ¨C we are not asking for Mas¡¯s political death,¡± she said. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about what kind of role he could have.¡±

Instead, the anti-capitalist, Europe-sceptical party wants a form of government that is ¡°less presidentialist¡± and which reflects ¡°the transversality of the independence movement.¡±

Gabriel also underscored the need to ¡°be able to talk about women¡± with regard to the new executive.

But Junts pel S¨ª is pressuring CUP to backtrack on its campaign promise to seek Mas¡¯s removal.

¡°Mas is an asset at the internal and international level for the [independence] process,¡± said Josep Rull, CDC¡¯s organization secretary.

English version by Susana Urra.