24 Jan 2013 Una declaració democràtica
Yesterday, Wednesday 23rd January 2013, the Catalan parliament adopted a declaration of sovereignty which asserts that “the people of Catalonia has, for reasons of democratic legitimacy, the nature of a sovereign political and legal subject”. The declaration also constitutes the de facto starting point for the organisation of a future consultation (supposedly legally-binding) in which I imagine that the Catalan people will be asked whether they prefer Catalonia to remain as a Spanish autonomous community or to become an independent State. This resolution is totally at odds with the 1978 Spanish Constitution, whereby “national sovereignty belongs to the Spanish people”. A significant majority of the Catalan chamber has stated in a peaceful and calm way that the main decision-makers on the life of the Catalan society are the Catalans themselves.
What is the purpose of such a declaration? What does yesterday’s vote want to achieve? As I understand it, there are two simultaneous objectives. One: to lay the first stone of a highly-complex process which involves, first of all, defining the demos of this project (in other words, stating that Catalonia’s national personality is not incidental or decorative but fundamental). And two: to gain the widest possible parliamentary majority in favour of holding an official referendum, just as Scotland will do and Québec has already done twice. This has more to do with the consolidation of democracy than with nationalism. In the early 21st century, it is unacceptable for democrats to try and forbid to ask the people about what affects their lives directly. This is the message that Catalonia should disseminate.
In my opinion, yesterday’s declaration is historically significant. However, it has three weaknesses which must be highlighted and which must not be ignored by the three parties which promoted it (CiU, ERC and ICV).
The inclusion of the concept ‘right to decide’ in the text distorts the scope and the aim of this enterprise in the eyes of the international community. Although this is an expression which is commonly used in Catalan politics, it is actually too vague and of little use when it comes to explaining the dynamics in which we live to foreign observers and global institutions. Why have they refused to speak clearly about right to self-determination? Although the Catalan chamber had previously used this term, it has now been put aside. If we Catalans want to be understood outside, let us try to be as little odd as possible.
Regarding political supports, the fact that the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) did not vote on the declaration of sovereignty and, instead, joined those (represented by the People’s Party and Ciutadans) who oppose the referendum is bad news for Catalan socialism and for the whole of the country. There will be time to analyse the reasons behind the direction taken by the party’s senior leaders (with Pere Navarro at its front) as well as the role of the five members of parliament who yesterday distanced themselves from this position and chose not to vote. So far, there are only unknowns. What will the impact of this move by the PSC be on the Catalan parties map? How will this affect the party’s internal stability? Yesterday afternoon, the joy of Sánchez-Camacho and Rivera at seeing Navarro on their side was evident.
The judgement of the method of negotiation used must be harsh. CiU and ERC started on the wrong foot and, afterwards, despite negotiating with the rest of political parties in favour of a dialogue, the feeling is that things have not been done well enough or with enough finesse. And that things have not been clearly explained to the public either. The bitter row between Unió and CDC only a few hours before the voting took place deserves special criticism. This was a sorry sight which, added to the discrepancies entrenched within the PSC, reminded some of the most absurd moments of the incident-filled adventure which the new Estatut (Catalan regional constitution) had to endure. I do not want to think that some very important and delicate issues which affect the life of the Catalan society are in the hands of amateurs. However, there are certain actions and discourses which only discourage many who, some months ago, thought that politicians would be wise and generous enough not to fall into the “own-goal syndrome” (as the writer Gaziel used to put it in his post-war works).
We Catalans have now a solemn declaration which states the sovereignty of the Catalan people. Those who insisted that Catalan nationalism had died on the night of the 25th of November must not understand a thing. Whether this is one more pie in the sky or the key to open other doors will depend on our democratic representatives and on their sense of time and opportunity as well as of the Catalan society’s capacity to resist the pressure of a challenge to the Spanish State without precedents since Franco’s death. The results of the Catalan elections paved the way for a political project of historic change, albeit in a different than anticipated. I think that there has not been yet enough reflection about the gap between what was asked to the voters and what now politicians must work with.
Yesterday in Parliament, there was none of the epic of other occasions. Nothing about Ithaca, nobody quoting Martí Pol. Better this way, though: the crisis, the corruption and the frivolousness which characterises certain incidents create a very flammable cocktail. Sovereignty starts with risk control.