Iñaki Ellakuría, Barcelona
09/14/2019 01:22 Updated on 09/14/2019 10:28
Catalanism is a political space in a state of convulsion, with multiple initiatives and little certainty about the viability and the immediate future of all of them. Among the present moves, it is worth highlighting the meeting that a large representation of political, social and cultural Catalanism will hold on September 18 in Barcelona, with the aim of drawing up a strategy, itinerary and discourse to present candidacy for the next Catalan elections.
The meeting will take place in the restaurant ‘Principal’ of Barcelona behind closed doors, and will have the presence of about 25 personalities framed in the Catalanist space; they will try to reach a minimum common denominator allowing them to promote an electoral platform that integrates the different and small parties that today fly the Catalan flag. They do not even rule out the formation of a new party that clearly falls apart from the independence positions.
Among the already confirmed lunch attendees are, according to sources from the organization, the former minister in the governments of Artur Mas and current president of Convergents, Germà Gordó; Teresa Pitarch, of Convergents; the leaders of the Lliga Democràtica Astrid Barrio and Josep Ramon Bosch; the president of Lliures, Antoni Fernández Teixidó; the former MP of Unió Democràtica Roger Montañola; the former leader of the PP and ex-MEP Santiago Fisas; the spokesman of the group Ciudadanos in Salou and former president of the Catalan Bar Council, Pere Lluís Huguet.
The organizers are waiting for the presence in individual capacity of several Units leader, a party that has refused to be present at the meeting considering that this initiative divides more than adds into the current scenario of political uncertainty in Catalonia, and prominent representatives of the world of publishing and of economic sectors.
The promoters seek to lay the foundations of an electoral alliance or even a new party
The initiative of this group is ahead of the meeting that on September 21 will be held in the monastery of Poblet by representatives of post-convergent Catalanism, with the presence of former leaders of the PDECat as Marta Pascal, Carles Campuzano and probably the former president of the Generalitat Artur Mas.
“The meeting in Barcelona will be that of non-nationalist Catalanists, a non-essentialist Catalanism adapted to the reality of Catalonia in the 21st century; nothing to do with the meeting of Poblet”, says one of the organizers of the meeting of 18-S.
On the table will be placed a document that claims to be the embryo of a founding manifesto. A text that includes the nuclear points in which all attendees can agree, while letting aside, for example, the position they should adopt regarding the ruling of the Supreme Court of the independence leaders or the claim of a referendum to separate from Spain.
The base document indicates that the “most dire consequences of the sovereignty process have been the political polarization” of Catalonia and that the Generalitat “governs only for a part of the Catalans”. Therefore, convinced that only from “moderation and the construction of a center Catalan option” will be possible an exit to the Catalan quagmire, they consider as the focus of their action “the recognition of the national identity of Catalonia and the defense of its uniqueness on the part of the powers of the State”.
As a second point they claim the “sovereign exercise of the powers and competences recognized in the Statute”, from the understanding that “in recent years the Generalitat has renounced to it”,
Another factor the drivers of the meeting consider vital is the economic one. Thus, they defend getting “their own taxation that allows fair and equitable financing” and at the same time “guarantees a loyal and solidary contribution to the progress of Spain”.
Finally, it is proposed to make again “Catalonia the economic engine of Spain and southern Europe, guaranteeing investments in infrastructure necessary to reverse the flight of companies and attract new ones”, in addition to promoting “cohesion, welfare and social justice”.
From this text they hope a founding manifesto will emerge after the 18-S meeting, laying the foundations for the “new Catalanism”.
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