ANC and Consell de la República: The Pro-Independence Movement in Flames

The Procés had the ability to attract different sectors to the independence cause beyond the parties. Civic entities played a crucial role in providing the movement with strength and cross-sectional support. Therefore, the implosion of these entities is the best indicator of the decomposition of the pro-independence movement beyond the crisis of the parties.

The drift of the ANC and the Consell de la República are the best reflection. The scandals surrounding Toni Comín, former vice president of the Consell, and the explicit support of Lluís Llach, president of the ANC, have been the last straw. In recent hours, figures like Antoni Castellà and Josep Costa have added fuel to the fire.

Antoni Castellà, a member of the Junts executive and a person close to Carles Puigdemont, has harshly criticized Toni Comín. Josep Costa, a member of the ANC's National Secretariat, has lashed out against the entity's leadership.

The bad vibes reveal two things.

On one hand, the exhaustion of a space that has also lost the support of the grassroots and is demobilized. Secondly, the fratricidal struggle among former leaders desperate to grab the scraps of what remains of the pro-independence movement.

Antoni Castellà, Puigdemont's Voice

Toni Comín, who was already severely affected by corruption accusations, has received a definitive blow with the complaint of sexual and psychological harassment. Carles Puigdemont remains silent while his setup is sinking. But Comín's great protector until now would have decided to sacrifice him definitively.

He has done it in his style, with distraction maneuvers. On one hand, he has made his lackey in "exile" Lluís Puig explicitly support the alternative candidacy to Comín in the elections for the presidency of the Consell de la República.

On the other hand, he has used Antoni Castellà, a former member of the Consell, to destroy Toni Comín. Castellà has publicly reprimanded Toni Comín for using images of him and Carles Puigdemont in his electoral campaign. "We asked you not to run," he adds in a clearly destructive tone.

In case there was any doubt, Castellà states that "it's time for a change in the Consell and to pass the baton to someone independent." The message also suggests that Carles Puigdemont and his circle pressured Toni Comín not to run in the entity's elections.

This indicates that Puigdemont would have decided several weeks ago that Comín's time is over.

Lluís Llach, A Fallen Myth

Toni Comín is probably now the most unpopular leader in the pro-independence constellation, but not the only one. Lluís Llach is making efforts to follow suit.

Lluís Llach's explicit support for Toni Comín has provoked general indignation among the independence movement and even some of its leaders like Josep Costa.

The former vice president of the Parliament and member of the ANC's secretariat sparked a fire next weekend.

He announced that he had left the executive meeting "in protest against the despotic and irregular management being done of the entity." He criticized that "the president of the entity[Lluís Llach]can't go on the main radio station of the country to defend a politician accused of very serious things."

Costa has always distanced himself from the parties and has defended civic entities as the engine of the independence movement. Now he directly accuses the pro-independence caste of having destroyed these entities with their constant manipulation.

He points out the crucial difference between "those who live for the independence of Catalonia and those who live off it." His accusation, besides causing much commotion, further highlights the discredit of this entity and its current leadership.