08/19/2020 08:30 | Updated 08/19/2020 2:06 PM
President of Generalitat, Quim Torra (Bernat Vilaró / ACN)
“I was willing and ready to go as far as the groups that supported me and the government wanted to go”. The president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, explains in the second installment of the interview with the ACN that, when he accepted the position for “serving the country”, he was ready “for all scenarios, naturally”. Torra understands that there are people “disappointed” because the independence movement has not completed the procés: “I myself am,” he admitted.
Likewise, he says that he has been “greatly surprised” by the internal “discrepancies” that have occurred, despite the “repression”: “I could not understand them and I still do not understand them”. The president believes that the pro-sovereignty base is broadened the most with a “democratic confrontation” against the State, as it was on October 1.
“I could not expect that, in a situation with prisoners and exiles, some types of actions would take place, honestly”
The president insists that he was “prepared for all scenarios”, and that the procés did not advance further, but due to other factors: “I could not expect that, in a situation with prisoners and exiles, some types of actions would take place, honestly”, he added.
Torra has stressed that he thought that the independence procés could continue, “and not that things suddenly changed so much” “This has shocked me personally,” he acknowledged.
Torra emphasizes that, when he accepted to be a candidate for the Generalitat, he thought that the constituent debate would serve to finish a draft Constitution to be endorsed, and thus move towards the implementation of the republic.
Democratic confrontation
Torra defends that the 1-O should be the central axis of the independence strategy: “Any collective leap that we consider can only occur if this magic formula is repeated”, he defended after highlighting the “unity” between institutions, parties, entities and citizens to make the 2017 referendum possible.
Along these lines, the president is committed to a new “democratic” attack to “further broaden” support for independence. “The 1-O, which is an act of confrontation with the State, is the moment we came to touch independence with the tips of our fingers. I don’t know why everything that our comrades carried out and finished in prison and in exile should not be continued by those of us who have some responsibilities. I don’t understand why we should change our strategy”, he reflected.
Disappointment and discrepancies
Torra admits that there are people “disappointed” with the political class because it has not been possible to complete the procés towards independence: “I myself [am]”, he assured. However, the head of the Government has argued that he is “happy” to have “maintained the pulse” and the “dignity” of the institution, and “not to have lowered its guard”, despite the “enormously difficult circumstances” that has faced his Government.
The president of the Generalitat also thinks that the politicians were not up to the task during the rule of the 1-O trial: “We probably failed, all of us, because the people were there” “The discrepancies and differences did not know how to find the appropriate channel and I think that, simply, the political class did not live up to what the citizens required,” he valued.
Torra also acknowledged that it was “difficult” to engender the ‘momentum’ and that, in fact, the 1-O took about 10 years to be created. Torra has recalled that 20% of the legislature has taken place under the application of Article 155 of the Constitution, or with the royal decree of the state of alarm due to the Covid-19 epidemic: “We have not achieved the republic but I think we have lived up to such a complicated situation”.
Differences despite “repression”
The president regrets “discrepancies” that have occurred within the independence movement, also within his Government. Torra, however, affirms that he has “never” considered kicking out anyone from ERC: “All ministers enjoy my trust”. The president does point out that, as a citizen who had not had “any direct dealings” with politics, he has been “greatly surprised” that there were “circumstances of discrepancies” that he has not been able to understand, in a “so difficult” situation caused by the “repression”.
Along these lines, he thinks that Carles Puigdemont’s government had a “fabulous, exciting and stellar” goal, in reference to 1-O. And that, on the other hand, his Government has encountered a “more defensive, recovery and resistance” scenario, of seeing leaders in prison and in “exile”, and of facing various trials.
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