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CDC's Shadow: Mas, Turull, and Trias Question its Dissolution 10 Years Later

Key figures from the convergent political space reflect on the error of dissolving CDC and seek the recovery of its founding spirit within Junts.

Generic image of political transition and legacy in Catalonia.
IA

Generic image of political transition and legacy in Catalonia.

A decade ago, the membership of Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) voted to dissolve the party and create a new formation. Today, figures like Artur Mas, Jordi Turull, and Xavier Trias consider this decision a mistake, while acknowledging the circumstances that led to it.

On May 21, 2016, known as 'Super Saturday', 70% of the membership of Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) chose to close down the party and usher in a new political era. A decade later, prominent voices from the convergent space, such as former Barcelona mayor Xavier Trias and Junts Secretary General Jordi Turull, consider this move an "error". Former President Artur Mas, for his part, believes the decision to bury the party's name "could have been avoided", while defending the intention to "save the convergent project".
The year 2014 marked a turning point with former President Jordi Pujol's confession about an undeclared inheritance in Andorra. Additionally, the party faced a leadership change with Carles Puigdemont succeeding Mas as President of the Generalitat, and the burden of austerity measures from Mas's first government (2010-2012). These factors created a "mess" that, according to Turull, was "structural" due to "contingent circumstances", such as the impact of budget cuts or "harassment over possible corruption cases".
Turull, who was never in favor of the dissolution, points out that the austerity measures "were not explained as they should have been", affecting the party's "social soul". Trias criticizes the roadmap that led to the extinction, stating that "we got into a mess" and that "many parties have had more significant issues" without closing down. He laments the "situation of a certain orphanhood" for many "Pujolista" members.
Mas justifies the decision as a way to "save" the convergent project, "which was Pujol's", despite discarding the party name. He describes Pujol's confession as a "cold shower" and highlights the need to transition from an "autonomist" party to a "sovereigntist and independentist" one. However, with hindsight, he admits that "perhaps it could have been avoided".
The birth of PDeCAT is described as "tortuous", with "factory defects", such as the party apparatus resisting the country's independence drive. Turull argues that to face October 1, 2017, a "very strong tool" was needed, which PDeCAT failed to be. Trias calls the dissolution an "announced death".
Mas identifies the lack of "internal unity" and strong leadership as key elements of the party inheriting CDC's legacy. He regrets not having remained more "on the front line" to be involved in building the new formation. He advises Junts to be a "central" party, capable of agreements "on the right and left", placing ideology "in second order".
The three agree that the convergent spirit is a "way of understanding the country", "Catalanism", the ability to bring together "as many people as possible" for a "sovereign" Catalonia, and a "successful way of doing and being". Trias emphasizes the presence of people from both the right and left working towards a "common project", while Turull adds the "culture of effort".
Trias sees a "will for reunion" within Junts, driven by local initiatives, mentioning pacts with parties from CDC's orbit like Convergents and the integration of Demòcrates. Turull notes "a lot of" convergent "spirit" in Junts, with a vocation to "pile up", although Mas recalls that Junts was born without the convergent recipe as a "main unifying link".
Mas believes Junts is the only party that can embody CDC's spirit, but the challenge is to "update" a successful project in a context of "fragmentation of Catalan politics".

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