Artur Mas Oriol Junqueras Joan Herrera David Fernàndez Miquel Iceta Alícia Sánchez- Camacho Albert Rivera J.A. Duran i Lleida Carme Forcadell Muriel Casals

President of the Generalitat de Catalunya autonomous government In favour of the Catalan people’s right to decide CiU (Convergence and Union) ran in the 2010 elections on a proposal of a fiscal agreement with Madrid. After Rajoy’s rejection of the proposal and the massive pro-sovereignty demonstration in 2012, Mas gave over his entire political project to the defence of the right to decide and to a yes vote on the question of independence.

President of ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia) In favour of the Catalan people’s right to decide A renovated ERC under Junqueras has brought together the traditional independence movement with a new and wider population of sympathisers who are unhappy with government cuts. This republican party has given parliamentary support to Mas without actually entering the government. That has allowed them to conserve their hopes for future electoral success. Opinion polls suggest that ERC would win the next Parliamentary elections.

National Coordinator of ICV (Initiative for Catalonia Greens) In favour of the Catalan people’s right to decide His green leftwing party, which is in broad disagreement with the policies of Mas’s government, has given their unconditional support to the Catalan people’s right to decide, despite internal divisions on the issue of independence. Herrera will vote yes-no, while co-leader Dolors Camats will vote yes-yes.

Leader of CUP (Popular Unity Candidates) In favour of the Catalan people’s right to decide CUP first entered the Catalan parliament in 2012 with three deputies. Fernàndez’s charisma and the recent battle between CiU and ERC over the prospect of early elections have cast this assembly-based movement, which emerged from the ranks of the pro-independence left, in the role of mediators.

First secretary of PSC In favour of a legal consultation with the agreement of the Spanish state The PSC (Catalan Socialist Party) once united the working class politics of Spanish migrants with the Catalan left wing. Thirty-five years later, under pressure because of the independence process and smarting from the effects of the wave of competing left wing options, the party has lost much of its institutional power. Catalan socialists have sought to create a third way, lying between the unionist and pro-independence options. Iceta is in favour of a federal reform of the Spanish constitution but differentiates himself from the Spanish socialist party by calling for a legal consultation held with the agreement of the Spanish government.

President of the PP (People’s Party of Catalonia) Against holding a referendum Sánchez-Camacho is competing with Albert Rivera (see below) to win the vote of those who wish to continue being part of Spain. She supports the recentralising measures promoted by President Rajoy while defending improved financing for Catalonia.

President of Ciutadans (Citizens) Against holding a referendum Ciutadans’s growth was fed by people’s disenchantment with the PSC and the PP in the Barcelona metropolitan area, thanks in part to the support of Spanish media. Their main rallying points are the Catalan education model and the pro-sovereignty process.

Chairman of the Governmental Committee of Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Union of Catalonia) In favour of the Catalan people’s right to decide Convergencia’s Christian democratic partners vacillate between the co-federal agreement defended by their chairman and the unabashed pro-independence stance professed by their younger leaders. Duran is one of the leading proponents of the so called third way lying between the pro-independence and unionist blocks and he counts on the support of business owners with interests in Madrid and media groups.

President of the Assemblea Nacional Catalana (Catalan National Assembly) In favour of the Catalan people’s right to decide The traditional pro-independence movement, fragmented into many often conflicting currents, was finally able to close old wounds and create a new movement with wide popular support which has mobilized thousands of people and kept up a constant pressure on politicians.