Carlota Camps
Barcelona 11 September 2023.
Salvador Illa prescribes “prudence, patience, discretion and a lot of Constitution”.
From being the “culmination of the process of de-judicialisation” and a “turning point for a new era in Catalonia”, to being a pact to leave the “blow to democracy” “unpunished” and “free”. The negotiations on a possible amnesty law for the ‘procés’ have sharpened the differences between the opposition in Catalonia and have become even more evident this Monday during the celebration of the Diada, with the Comuns pushing for exoneration, the PSC avoiding pronouncing itself but defending the Constitution, Ciudadanos promising to fight against it and a critical PP, but practically absent.
As was to be expected, the most optimistic about the amnesty was the leader of the Comuns in the Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, who, from the floral offering to Rafael Casanova, defended that it is a “necessary” debate that will allow a “new beginning in Catalonia” and to continue advancing in “rights and liberties” with a “progressive and plurinational majority”. The PSC’s First Secretary, Salvador Illa, has not been so explicit, limiting himself to saying – as he has in recent days – that the Socialists’ recipe is “prudence, patience, discretion and the Constitution, a lot of Constitution”, he added.
Even so, the Socialist leader, who went to the offering accompanied by a very large delegation from the party – which included the minister Raquel Sánchez and the government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto -, called for “coexistence”, for “recognising plurality” and for “looking forward” to “a future of opportunities for Catalans”. The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, also called for “dialogue” in what was his first Diada at the head of the city council.
Cs opens fire against Puigdemont
On the other side, radically against the amnesty, Ciudadanos has positioned itself, which has once again called for the Diada de Catalunya to be Sant Jordi. After a meeting of the Cs steering committee held exceptionally in Barcelona, the leader of the party in Catalonia, Carlos Carrizosa, has assured that the Onze de Setembre is a “goal” that the independence movement scored against the PSC and has defended that it is a “misrepresentation of history”. A “dictate of nationalism” which, according to Carrizosa, still has the socialists in its grip and which he believes explains their willingness to agree to an amnesty law. For Carrizosa, if this were to be approved, it would be a law of “impunity” for the “coup against democracy” that would undermine “equality”.
In addition, Cs, which had lost prominence after its decision not to stand in the general elections, has taken advantage of the Diada to try to make an impact and re-establish itself as the main adversary of pro-independence sentiment. For this reason, the MEP and Secretary General of Cs, Adrián Vázquez, has announced that he has sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament to ask for the withdrawal of the salary and the right to vote of the ‘ex-president’ Carles Puigdemont – as well as the other members of Junts Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí – for not having collected the minutes and not having sworn the Constitution.
Who did not travel to Barcelona was the president of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernández, who, although he had initially planned to hold an event at the Grand Marina hotel -which has finally been reconverted into a conference of his own next Thursday-, decided to celebrate the Diada in El Vendrell. From there, in a brief speech to the media that lasted less than two minutes and in which he did not take questions, Fernández asked the pro-independence parties to “renounce initiating a second stage of the separatist process”, but he did not explicitly refer to the amnesty. Fernández, who did not attend the meeting of Popular Party barons convened in Madrid, avoided any reference to the controversy caused by his criticism of Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s strategy.
Chile’s September 11th
But beyond the Diada de Catalunya, and the offering to Rafael de Casanovas, socialists, communists and also republicans have met again in another offering, the one that has been celebrated in the Salvador Allende square in the Carmel neighbourhood of Barcelona on the fiftieth anniversary of his death during Pinochet’s coup d’état in Chile. Thus, a representation of the Govern formed by the ‘consellers’ Meritxell Serret, Gemma Ubasart and Joan Ignasi Elena; by the delegate of the Government, Carlos Prieto; the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni; and representatives of PSC -among them Salvador Illa-, ERC and the Comuns; have made their offering to the Chilean ex-president who committed suicide during the rebellion of the army on September 11, 1973.
The Chilean community in Barcelona remembers him every year in this square, which Barcelona City Council decided to dedicate to him in 1984, eleven years after his death and when the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet was still in power in the South American country
https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20230911/oposicion-diada-amnistia-91944546
Add comment