Notícies Dilluns 26.05.2014 10:03

Artur Mas: "Not a single step back, everything goes forward"

Mas believes that the May 25 results reinforces the sovereignty process

The President of CiU and the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, said on Sunday that the results of the European elections "reinforce the Catalan political sovereignty process" and he celebrated that the coalition had increased its representation despite the fact that they "take all the flak" as the governing party. "A coalition that is responsible for the government in the most difficult, complicated times and which takes all the flak, and that still increases its representation, I think that should get a lot of credit," said Mas, accompanied by the main figures of the coalition at the podium. Mas applauded the increase in support for the parties that agreed on the date and the question for the referendum: "With these results in mind, everything goes forward, not a single step back."

CiU's leader appeared after the European election results were released and stated that the group of political parties that had come to an agreement on the date and the question had come out "clearly reinforced" on Sunday because they had risen 18 points with respect to what they won five years ago. "This reinforces the Catalan political sovereignty process, it reinforces the fact that we want to vote because we have sent a clear message to Madrid and to Brussels in the sense that the forces in favor of the referendum are clearly in the majority," he underscored.

It's for that reason that the president said that "everything continues forward" with respect to the Catalan sovereignty process. "Not a single step back. Everything goes forward, everything continues ahead, we are committed and this result backs up our commitment," said the Catalan president.

Mas admits a change in tendency

Mas congratulated ERC for its victory in Catalonia and also the PP for having won in Spain, but he celebrated that CiU had "held on" and received 14-5 points more than in previous elections and had come in less than two points from victory.

Although he admitted that this result "marks a tendency in the Catalan political framework in which there is more fragmentation," he also pointed out that CiU received 100,000 more votes than it did five years earlier. "And that happened while we were taking the flak in the government," he added.

"I believe that the people, with this increase in votes, have told us, 'hold on, we trust you, keep on,' and that is what we'll do," he said.

Mas also celebrated the increase in turnout but at the same time expressed concern for the increase in the far-right in Europe.