Background Convergence and Union (CiU), a
Catalan nationalist alliance between the liberal
Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and the
Christian democratic Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), had been the dominant political force in Catalonia since
the Transition, having governed from 1980 to 2003 under
Jordi Pujol. In 2010, CiU returned to the government under the leadership of
Artur Mas, who embraced the
pro-independence movement following the
2012 Diada. In the run-up to the
2015 regional election, CDC formed a
joint list with other pro-independence parties, whereas UDC members narrowly voted to run independently, effectively dissolving CiU. The pro-independence faction of the UDC split and established
Democrats of Catalonia (DC), joining the CDC and
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), among others, to form
Junts pel Sí (JxSí). Ultimately, JxSí fell short of a majority in the election and the
Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) forced Mas to step down, leading to the election of
Carles Puigdemont as
President of Catalonia. The
government of Puigdemont held the
2017 Catalan independence referendum, which culminated in the unilateral
Declaration of independence of Catalonia and
the removal of Puigdemont and his government, with the central government calling for an
early election on 21 December. Following the rupture of JxSí, the PDeCAT chose Puigdemont—who had chosen to
self-exile himself in Belgium to escape from the Spanish judiciary—as their leading candidate. In November 2017, Puigdemont launched an electoral list under the name
Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat), comprising
independents close to Puigdemont and members of the PDeCAT, but exluding the leadership of the party. The election saw JuntsxCat becoming the main pro-independence force in the
parliament, slightly ahead of ERC. The alliance's success in the election resulted in an increase of influence for Puigdemont within both the PDeCAT and the pro–
Catalan independence camp, but his establishment of the
National Call for the Republic (CNxR) as a rallying force for pro-independence parties would not achieve the expected results. Concurrently, the PDeCAT registered the trademark of Together for Catalonia as a political party on 11 July 2018, but the former's insistence on refusing to dissolve itself as a party would lead to Puigdemont breaking ties with the PDeCAT and announcing the foundation of a new party on 2 July 2020, with its founding congress starting
telematically on 25 July and scheduled to last until 3 October. The new party's name, intending to make use of the "Together for Catalonia" label, sparked another conflict with the PDeCAT as the latter held the ownership rights over the trademark. Puigdemont's supporters within the PDeCAT took it over on 10 July by changing the registration data in the
interior ministry to reflect its new ownership, but the change did not affect the electoral coalition comprising the PDeCAT nor its electoral rights, The new party unveiled its logo and corporate identity on 18 July, presented by
Elsa Artadi and
Marta Madrenas. Joan Canadell, the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, voiced his openness to collaborating with the new organization, although he claimed he did not see himself leading a future list at the ballots.
Jordi Puigneró, incumbent regional minister of Digital Policies and Public Administration, had been also commented as a potential candidate for Junts in a future regional election in a list to be symbolically led by Puigdemont. The party was joined by
Independence Rally (RI.cat) on 24 July, which broke the collaboration agreement under which it had been allied with CDC/PDeCAT since 2013. From 29 August onwards and starting with the party's five
senators, members from the PDeCAT aligned with Puigdemont started defecting
en masse from the former, in response to it announcing a formal lawsuit against Puigdemont for taking over the JxCat's brand, with Puigdemont himself forfeiting his PDeCAT membership on 31 August. ==Composition==