2010–2012 The Catalan elections that took place on
28 November 2010 were to finally determine the political future of Mas, who was for the third time CiU's candidate to the presidency. During the campaign Mas had promised to put into place the government of 'the best' people, including the possibility of appointing ministers ('Consellers') from outside his political coalition, Convergència i Unió, if their talent justified doing so. Moreover, he also engaged in a process which would culminate in full powers over taxation for Catalonia—significantly reducing the so-called 'fiscal deficit' between Catalonia and the whole of Spain—by putting this issue to referendum to the Catalans and as a condition for giving any support to Spanish governments after the Spanish elections scheduled for 2012. Surveys had indicated that this time his party would obtain enough seats to govern without being heavily dependent on third parties and with no risk of a repetition of left-wing coalitions like those of 2003 and 2006. In the event, CiU won 62 of the 135 seats in the
Catalan Parliament, short of an
absolute majority. He was eventually invested as president of the Generalitat on 23 December 2010 thanks to an agreement to get the
Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC)
abstention in the vote In the investiture speech, Mas claimed a new funding model for Catalonia inspired by the
Economic Agreement and proclaimed the Catalonia national transition based on the "right to decide". The agreement with the PSC proved fragile, which forced Mas to seek new allies in the regional parliament, this time engaging in talks with the
Popular Party (PP). By negotiating PP's abstention, Mas was eventually able to pass the 2012
public budget.
2012–2015: Catalan independence movement (
Leader of the Opposition in the
Parliament of Catalonia), signing the 2012–2016 governability agreement in December 2012 In September 2012, less than 2 years into his first term and only months after having closed a de facto agreement with the PP, Artur Mas declared in a speech to
Parliament that it was time for the people of Catalonia to exercise the
right of self-determination. The declaration had come as fallout from the massive
2012 Catalan independence demonstration which had gathered an estimated number of participants ranging from 600,000 to 1.5 million. Hence, on 25 September 2012, Mas announced
snap elections for the Parliament of Catalonia to be held on 25 November and argued, referring to the demonstration, that "the street vocal must be moved to the polls". Despite Mas going to the polls with a view to attain an
absolute majority in the regional parliament Mas' led coalition lost in the event 12 seats, making it the biggest loser out of the snap election. Still, the sum of parties defending Catalonia's independence from Spain (CiU and ERC) significantly increased their votes and on 24 December he took up office at the
Palace of the Government of Catalonia. On 12 December 2013, Artur Mas, with leaders of five Catalan parliamentary parties, announced the date for the
Catalan self-determination referendum, that was set for Sunday 9 November 2014 and contained a question with two sections: "Do you want Catalonia to become a State?" and "In case of an affirmative response, do you want this State to be independent?". In April 2014 the proposal was presented to the
Spanish Parliament and it was defeated by a vote of 299–47. Mas, both before and after this vote has declared that the referendum would take place in a legal manner, but under the
Spanish Constitution, referendums on sovereignty must be held nationally and not regionally, which prompted the Spanish government to veto any such referendum. and
Irene Rigau on 6 February 2017
Conviction Mas intended to avoid prosecution by reducing it to a non-binding and purely symbolic vote, and staffing it with volunteers. Despite these efforts the Spanish Central Government still deemed the vote as
unconstitutional and thus illegal. Eventually, Mas went ahead in defiance of an order from Spain's constitutional court, leading to his trial. Mas was charged by the attorney general with perverting the course of justice, misuse of public funds and abuse of power, with regards to the role he assumed in the unofficial referendum. A trial was opened, Mas rested accused of abuse of power and disobedience, as a result facing a ban from holding public office of up to 10 years. In the event, in March 2017 Mas was barred from public office for two years by a court in Barcelona for organizing an illegal vote in defiance of the Spanish courts. He was also fined 36,500 euros. == Stances ==