Guilty as charged

We are guilty as charged; we agree to incriminate ourselves. We voted in the consultation process of November 9, 2014

Esther Vera
3 min
Som culpables

We are guilty as charged; we agree to incriminate ourselves. We voted in the consultation process of November 9, 2014. We knew that it wasn’t a referendum and that it would not be a binding vote, but, nevertheless, 2.3 million of us started queuing early that morning outside polling stations manned by thousands of volunteers. Young people, old folk and families took part in an orderly, civic, entirely peaceful ballot, even though emotions were running high: the elderly recalled their lost liberties which they never fully got back, the young wanted to have a say on how they wish to live their own future and the future of their nation.

We are guilty of believing that a referendum must be agreed upon and that dialogue is the best political tool. We believed that much on November 9, 2014 and we do so today, on the eve of the day when then-president Artur Mas, vice president Joana Ortega and Education minister Irene Rigau are to face a judge in Catalonia’s High Court and be tried in a case imposed by a public prosecutor whose arm was twisted by Spain’s executive branch without any respect, all the way to his resignation.

November 9 was a slap across the face of the Partido Popular government in Spain. They were incredulous and believed that Convergència would eventually budge because, deep down, they regarded it as a conservative force who had always named their price for a compromise and had always felt the burden of office.

Soon Mas’ government experienced the difficulties of calling a referendum against the wishes of the Spanish authorities. It became apparent that some civil servants feared that their actions would be regarded as unlawful and many refused to sign off any official forms. But the Catalan government turned the referendum into a participatory process firmly grounded on the consultation law, an uncertain process with cardboard ballot boxes, but one that the citizenry transformed into a major political challenge for Madrid. Spain’s imperial pride could not stomach the massive, orderly queues and Mas’ press conference that evening in Montjuïc, speaking before dozens of foreign journalists for over one hour and in four languages.

At that time, then Minister of the Interior Fernández Díaz (the man who used to plot with the public prosecutor) claimed before his interlocutors that he felt cheated and that never again would such a mockery be allowed.

Monday 6 will be an epic day, one of those which the Spanish government’s lack of political intelligence hands to the independence movement on a silver platter. Days like tomorrow manage to energise the most skeptical, even those who are most critical of Catalan politics. Over 40,000 people have announced that they will rally in support of the elected officials who took a risk and will presumably be suspended and fined an amount which they will have to pay out of their own pocket. They deserve respect and support.

In the meantime, a further step will have been taken towards the head-on clash. It is impossible to engage in dialogue when you won’t use politics and you corner your political opponent. That is how we have been making progress since the ruling that struck down the Catalan Stature was announced.

Courts of law, dirty war and police operations instructed by the Prosecutor and magnified by media, always at the ready when it suits.

Separating the independence process from corruption. I also confess to wanting to separate the process from the fight against corruption. I am guilty of arguing that there are honest public officials whose best interest is to combat and get rid of any wrongdoings when managing public funds. I am guilty of congratulating judges and prosecutors when they act against corruption independently. I support politicians who shun cronyism. I believe that the State’s apparatus stages decoy operations that harm innocent people, but that judges also threaten some who are possibly guilty.

What about the next day? When three people from a largely conservative background are sat in the dock for having called a consultation and thousands more are willing to lend them support in the street on a Monday, it means that the chances of an agreement are very slim and the more radical positions will begin to prevail, even if they are not the most intelligent when the final goal is to build the social majority required to become an independent country.

“May the gods protect you from interesting times” is a Chinese proverb that here in Catalonia we have been challenging on a daily basis for a few years.

This week political and emotional strains will multiply. Many will see one more reason to go full steam ahead. Others will notice that the room for dialogue keeps shrinking. We cannot rule out the possibility that the Catalan authorities may be stripped of their powers in policing and education. Financial self-rule is long gone, now. It will be the time to keep calm. In a democracy the goal is to win a majority at the polls and this should remain the main objective of any political action in Catalonia at present. Sooner or later, we will vote.

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