Catalan European Democratic Party

Not to be confused with Democrats of Catalonia.
Catalan European Democratic Party
Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català
Abbreviation PDECAT
President Artur Mas
Secretary Marta Pascal
Founded 10 July 2016
Preceded by Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
Headquarters C/Provença, 339
08037 Barcelona
Youth wing Joventut Nacionalista de Catalunya (JNC)
Membership 8,000 (July 2016)[1]
Ideology Liberalism
Catalan independentism
Economic liberalism
Republicanism
Catalan nationalism
Europeanism
Political position Centre to Centre-right
National affiliation Together for Yes
European affiliation Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliation Liberal International
European Parliament group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Parliament of Catalonia
29 / 135
Congress of Deputies (Catalan seats)
8 / 47
Spanish Senate (Catalan seats)
4 / 24
Website
www.partitdemocrata.cat

The Catalan European Democratic Party (Catalan: Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català, PDECAT) is a Catalan nationalist party which supports the independence of Catalonia from Spain. It was founded in Barcelona on 10 July 2016, as the successor to the now-defunct Democratic Convergence of Catalonia.[2][3]

History

The party's founding congress in July 2016

Led by its president, Artur Mas, on July 8, 2016 Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC by its Catalan acronym) held its last congress. During the congress, as planned, CDC's members agreed to form a new party, whose founding congress was held in the course of the same assembly, from 8 to 10 July. CDC's Mas retained the presidential role in the refounded party.[4]

The reasoning behind the re-branding process often mentions the desire to disassociate the party from its corruption problems, including those of CDC's founder, Jordi Pujol, which occurred during its dominance of Catalan regional politics.[5]

Naming controversy

Two names for the rebranded party were initially floated: Més Catalunya and Catalans Convergents, but different party factions expressed their rejection of both proposals.[6] On 9 July, three other proposals were presented: Junts per Catalunya, Partit Demòcrata Català and Partit Nacional Català.[7] On July 10, the congress of the party opted for Partit Demòcrata Català, which obtained 871 votes against 657 for Partit Nacional Català (Catalan National Party).[2]

However, the name itself Partit Demòcrata Català is currently suspended, since it is almost identical with that of an existing political party.[8] The Ministry of the Interior announced the difficulty of registering the party with that name, being similar to Democrats of Catalonia, a fact that has already caused the inability to register in 2015 a political organisation with the name Partit Demòcrata de Catalunya. Antoni Castellà, Democrats of Catalonia spokesman, said in August that "if the PDC does not change its brand that will be a conflict within Junts pel Sí", the Catalan coalition government formed by his party and CDC, among others. On September 20 the party announced that it will attempt to register the name Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català (Catalan European Democratic Party, PDECat), which also would conflict by presenting similarity with the Partit Català d'Europa recorded by Pasqual Maragall in July 1998; however, the party also registered the names Partit Nacional Català, Junts per Catalunya, Més-Catalunya and Pacte Democràtic Català in case the PDCat also be rejected by the Ministry of the Interior.[9][10]

On 3 October 2016, the Ministry of the Interior announced that the name Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català had been officially registered on 29 September.[11][12] That name was ratified by the party members in a ballot conducted on 21-22 October 2016.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gisbert, Josep (24/7/2016). «El nuevo PDC estrena dirección». La Vanguardia.
  2. 1 2 "Bye CDC, hi Catalan Democratic Party" (in Spanish). El Periódico de Catalunya. 2016-07-10.
  3. ↑ "Catalan Democratic Party, chosen name for heir party to CDC" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 2016-07-10.
  4. ↑ El Partit Demòcrata encumbra a Mas con el 95% de los votos|El Mundo
  5. ↑ Convergencia i Unió: Refundación agitada| El País
  6. ↑ "Mutiny within CDC forces to postpone the choosing of the new party's name" (in Spanish). El Periódico de Catalunya. 2016-07-08.
  7. ↑ "The three finalists for the new CDC: 'Junts per Catalunya', 'Partit Català Demòcrata' and 'National Partit Català'" (in Spanish). El Periódico de Catalunya. 2016-07-09.
  8. ↑ "El partido de Mas no podrá llamarse 'Partit Democràta Català' por confusión con otro". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 14 July 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "El PDC encalla también con el nuevo nombre propuesto". El Periódico (in Spanish). 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "CDC intenta ara de canviar el nom per 'Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català'". VilaWeb (in Catalan). 20 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "CDC ya tiene nuevo nombre: Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català (PDECat)". El Mundo (in Spanish). 3 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Ministry of the Interior (29 September 2016). "Registro de Partidos Políticos" (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "Las bases de la antigua Convergència ratifican al PDECAT como el nuevo nombre del partido". Eldiario.es (in Spanish). 22 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
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