Victor Terradellas, known for his task of brokering Russian emissaries with the ‘president’ Carles Puigdemont before the declaration of independence in 2017, and who was responsible for foreign policy at Convergència, leaves Junts per Catalunya, denouncing the lack of internal democracy in the holding of the primary elections in Reus and questioning the party’s independence movement. Sources from the Junts leadership respond that the primaries have been organized in an “impeccable” way and also that they consider the criticism of the already ex-militant “unacceptable”.
“It is not the party that Puigdemont drew”
Terradellas opted to be a candidate for mayor of Reus, but according to what he told EL PERIÓDICO, he has run into a candidacy already prepared in favor of Teresa Pallares. “Today if you want to introduce yourself you have no chance, the person who proposes the address is by acclamation, you no longer exist“, he denounces. According to his version, “all parties have this defect, everything is excessively structured”. In this sense, he accuses the current leadership of not following the open and horizontal party pattern that Puigdemont proposed: “This is not the match he drew. When he imagined it, I’m sure he did it in a horizontal and participatory way, but it hasn’t ended up being defined. It was drawn one way and defined another.”
Autonomism versus independence
The former militant also questions Junts’ effective independence movement. “Ask yourself (laughs), at the moment I don’t see any strategy to move forward. I’m not talking about a new referendum. What has to be done is to apply the 27-O”, he says in reference to the DUI.
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Asked if his judicial statements in relation to the role of Russian emissaries in the ‘procés’ -with statements referring to the role of Puigdemont- may have made him fall out of favor in Junts, he replies: “I don’t think so, I want to think not. I have not stopped telling the truth. If the truth bothers, they are the ones who have a problem, not me.”
In response to this decision by Terradellas, the management has categorically denied any bias in the primary process and has described as “unacceptable” the criticism of the former head of foreign policy at the CDC. In the same way, the leadership bets without hesitation on Pallares as a candidate: “With her, Reus will have a great mayor”.