Foto: Aziz Acharki | Unsplash
Originally published in Spanish: ‘El «Juicio del pueblo»‘. Lola García. La Vanguardia.
6th may 2018
Six months after the tumultuous October of 2017, ERC have stated, in un ambiguous terms, that “it has been soundly established” that those events have not “translated to the birth of a Catalan republic”. No matter how obvious the statement, it still has provoked a jolt in the most inflamed secessionist circles, with consequent accusations of cowardice and submission. What for some represents a surrender, for others it boils down to a mere acceptance of an evident reality. Anyway, the sentence is the starting point to acknowledge the mistakes that were made, and thus, to a timid rectification, without renouncing to the secessionist postulates that to a great extent are the very reason for being of the party.
Indeed, the political platform that the republicans will debate in a few weeks, seeks to prepare for the “next clash with the state”. It doesn’t detail the form or the date of that future clash, but it makes clear that they do not want a repeat of the recent experience. The diagnosis of mistakes is quite clear: nothing about new “roadmaps” or calendars that constrain political leaders. The most relevant in the whole analysis is the warning about mistaking again a parliamentary majority for a social majority and that not even 50% of support for secession ie enough to achieve that goal peacefully. “Will is not enough”, it warns. Next, it contains a plan for the future: first, regain power to “strengthen spaces of sovereignty”, among which it includes public TV, the schools and foreign service. That is to say, using the regional government to “build the republic”, to spread a narrative, like Jordi Pujol did back in his time, who expanded self-government “making country”. Last, the document concludes that full independence will only arrive by means of a legal referendum -even if it doesn’t state it with those exact words- and that will only be possible with the support of “democratic forces from elsewhere in the Spanish state that are critical of the ‘78 regime and European sectors sensitive to democracy and human rights”. ERC is looking for deals with Podemos and the Comunes.
It is the first analysis from the secessionist camp that includes a modicum of self-criticism. ERC wanted to put it forth after the December 21st election, but the strategy followed by Carles Puigdemont made that very hard. In fact, the republicans take a risk by presenting the text without knowing for sure whether a new election will be held, since this could discourage part of its voters in favor of the former president’s epic. But ERC’s platform is also a reflection of the different situations in which the two leaders who compete for the secessionist space find themselves: Oriol Junqueras is in jail, without almost any loudspeakers to make himself heard beyond some letters, and Puigdemont is in foreign land, with ability to take the media spotlight almost constantly. Junqueras and his party need to start a new stage that places the secessionist claim in a pragmatic course that, on the medium term, allow for a dialogue with the state powers. In contrast, Puigdemont remains in the clash framework and willing to exploit “legitimism”, an argument that he used, successfully, in the last electoral campaign and by which he intends to keep acting as a remote president of the regional government.
Part of the PDECat would like to take a path similar to ERC’s. The republicans platform also highlights their left-wing worldview and calls for alliances with others forces in that spectrum. The heirs of Convergència would also like to reinstate their ideological profile. But PDECat is now a party divided by a internal fight for power that was virulently unleashed when Artur Mas stepped down as party chairman. According to the bylaws, between the next month of July and summer of 2019, a new general assembly focusing on ideological character must be held, but a sector within the party, aligned with the dismissed regional president- wants it to also include the selection of new leadership, specially while a large chunk of party members are on board with the mantra “Puigdemont or whatever Puigdemont says”.
Aware of his influence over secessionism, specially while other leaders remain jailed and denouncing “repression” is a profitable proposition, Puigdemont will continue embodying the struggle against the state. How? He could anoint a puppet president before May 22nd with the aim of having him hold office for a few months -in which case it won’t be necessary to burn Elsa Artadi-, since from late October it will be legally possible to call for an early election. It is precisely around that time that the trial against the former cabinet members is expected to take place. That includes Puigdemont, whether he is surrendered to Spain or stays in Germany. The temptation to turn the election into a “peoples’ judgement” in contrast with the one from a power of the state like the Supreme Court will be almost irresistible for Puigdemont.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The next chapter is all about making ERC and Chief of parliament Roger Torrent face again the dilemma of whether to disobey the Constitutional Court and try to make Puigdemont president before May 14th. And this series, to the dismay of those in jail, seems never-ending.
