A new parliamentary term has begun in abnormal circumstances. The chamber has been reopened following the proclamation of 27 October, the same day when Article 155 snatched our institutions, which since then have been governed by a minority party in Catalonia, [the PP]. Lawmakers have convened in the absence of the one candidate who has the best odds for re-election —he is in Brussels— and of its vice-president and three MPs, who voted by proxy from prison.
The opening of Parliament has taken place between negotiations and the refusal to make pacts for Puigdemont’s investiture. Conversations swing between moments of realism and the ostrich approach. Junts per Catalunya is maintaining its election vow [to bring back Puigdemont] and is willing to force Puigdemont’s investiture until its dying breath, knowing that the Spanish state will make the executive presidency unviable.
ERC is toning down its discourse, as a reaction to Junqueras’ imprisonment, appeals to realism and amidst the fear of the possible cost of a strategy shift. Against this backdrop, on Wednesday Ernest Maragall gave the political speech of continuity between parliamentary terms, in which he interpreted the election results as a confirmation of the 1-O referendum, while he admitted to having "learned a lesson" from the state’s reaction. Those who make a difference in politics are those who are capable of speaking clearly and acting with a combination of ideals and a sense of duty and of reality. Maragall advised "resistance and intelligence" and, given that the goal is now to recover the institutions, we ought to pay careful attention to what he says and abandon euphemisms.
