Teresa Forcades: "Podemos will not be able to reach agreement with Procés Constituent if they separate the national axis from the social"

She defends a united left for 27S, and that the group led by Pablo Iglesias should accept a "unilateral constituent process" in Catalonia

ARA Barcelona
2 min
Teresa Forcades: “Podem ha de saber que és un error supeditar el procés català a l’espanyol”

Podemos, Guanyem, Procés Constituent, and ICV-EUiA have already sealed a pact to run together in the municipal elections in Barcelona. But what happens with the elections on 27 September (27S)? The founder of Procés Constituent, Teresa Forcades, explained in an interview with ARA Bassas that she continues to believe in a united proposal of leftist forces, even if Podemos claims that they would rather run alone. She feels, though, that this agreement depends on the social and national axes going hand in hand and that Podemos accept a "unilateral constituent process" in Catalonia.

"Podemos will not be able to come to an agreement with Procés Constituent if they separate the national axis from the social", warned Forcades, who added that it is a "mistake to subordinate the Catalan process" to the fact that they have given the Spanish process a green light. "Why should we have to wait?", she asked. In her opinion, an alliance with Podemos in the Catalan elections could have two effects. On the one hand, some undecided voters could end up leaning towards options that oppose Catalan independence. But on the other hand, Forcades thinks that this broad coalition should “shift towards supporting independence”, considering that Podemos is the only force "with a real chance of governing Spain that could allow Catalans to decide their future". The key, she assured, is to "get undecided voters to join the process" through a Catalan Procés Constituent that "does not presume the inevitability of independence, but that prepares for it".

At a point in the process where she considers that the population is "disappointed", Forcades has chosen to convey optimism. "The opportunity is still there, but we cannot make mistakes. It will be a mistake if we allow the national and social axes to become disconnected, and we will end up with less than the majority that we need to achieve independence", she said. In her opinion, it’s clear that the pact between CiU and ERC isn’t getting us closer to independence. "CiU doesn’t want to break with neoliberalism", she snapped.

Regarding the accord reached for the municipal elections in Barcelona, Forcades assured that the understanding with ICV-EUiA would have been "impossible" if they had been "looking at the past". Nevertheless, she said that they had prioritized establishing a "strategy of minimum conditions", among which is an agreement that "there would not be any visible faces from the old politics".

Forcades also wanted to make it clear that she doesn’t see herself as a candidate. "I would have to give up being a nun. It’s incompatible", she said, and added that she will maintain an "active role", but that there are other faces of the process that can take on the role of candidates.

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