Thursday, March 28

The philosopher Xavier Antich, elected as the new president of Òmnium to replace Jordi Cuixart

Xavier Antich has formally relieved Jordi Cuixart as president of Òmnium Cultural this Saturday, after the members have validated his candidacy, the only one presented, during the entity’s General Assembly. From the Forge of L’Hospitalet and before a thousand partners and political representatives and social agents, Antich thanked the work carried out by his predecessors in office and promised that Òmnium “will continue to be”, as it was in the referendum of 1- Or and in the fall of 2019 on the streets. “We have not come to hang out, we know where we want to go and what to do to get there,” he assured.

In this sense, he stressed that they do not want to reform the State but to get out of it and, for this, he added, it will be necessary to “review the frameworks” with which they have worked until now and create “new complicities”.

On the other hand, Antich has also pointed out that they are not “naive” and that they know that the challenge is “giant”. “We are working to radically change the political framework in which we live and we will do it as Òmnium always does: listening and acting, making proposals and seeking consensus, fighting against repression and strengthening ourselves,” he said.

In addition, he warned that they will be “demanding” with political representatives, parties and institutions because they want to “have political influence.” However, he also clarified that they will not give air “to anti-political phobia” because that is where “discouragement, populism and the extreme right grow.”

The “giant” Jordi Cuixart

During his speech, Antich also recalled his predecessors Jordi Porta, Muriel Casals and “the giant” Jordi Cuixart, who led the Òmnium together with Vice President Marcel Mauri, which he has described as “the shared struggles of 1-O, the firmness against the Supreme Court and the 190,000 members”. “Our great challenge is knowing how to live up to the task and be worthy”, he declared, promising to take the legacy “much further” if possible. “We will never thank you enough for everything you have done for Òmnium and for the country”, he concluded. As announced, the will of the new leadership also wants to grow the entity to a million members.

On the other hand, he recalled the “exiled” political leaders in Belgium and Switzerland and indicated that the entity will work for them to return “home”, as well as having a memory for the “almost 4,000 reprisals”. In this context, he predicted that “more repression will come”, but clarified that it will be “a good sign” because he will want to say that “the fight continues”.

In addition, during the speech he also spoke about the defense of the Catalan language and the Catalan school model, culture and social cohesion, the shared struggles against inequalities and social exclusion, and he sent a message of solidarity and support to the Ukrainian community in Catalonia.

Omnium General Assembly

The event at the Farga de L’Hospitalet was held after the General Assembly of Òmnium, which was attended by representatives of the boards and presidencies of fifty of the entity’s headquarters, as well as Òmnium Catalunya Nord, Òmnium l’Alguer, Obra Cultural Balear, Acció Cultural del País Valencià and Escola Valenciana. It was also attended by a broad representation of civil society, the cultural, trade union, business and associative world, such as the ANC, the AMI, Platform for Language, FOLC, Irídia, the Table of the Third Sector, the Barcelona Football Club, the Intersindical , USTEC, IAC, UGT, CCOO, among many others.

From the political and institutional class, the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, the president of the Parliament, Laura Borràs, members of the Parliament’s table, representatives of the pro-sovereignty political parties and the pardoned political leaders attended.

The Assembly of the entity has endorsed both the candidacy of the doctor of philosophy and professor Xavier Antich as new president as well as other positions. Specifically, Mònica Terribas will be the new first vice president; Marina Gay the second vice president; Marina Gallés the secretary; and Marta Garsaball the treasurer.

The partners have also endorsed Joaquín Forn, David Fernández, Natza Farré, Natalia Touzon, Iolanda Fresnillo, Núria Basi, Ángel Castiñeira, Gerard Pijoan, Lluís Duran, Didac Amat and Marc Sanjaume as new members of the National Board. All of them have joined the new Òmnium National Board, also made up of Neus Torbisco, Joan Pujolar, Paco Poch and Jordi Arcarons.



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