Uncertainty
Uncertainty
It is curious that, election after election, many militants, as well as social entities, strongly demand two things from the pro-independence parties: on the one hand, unity; and on the other one, specific dates, a road map.
In reality, the first of these demands is simply absurd and goes against democracy itself. The fact that one party or another defends independence does not mean that it has to put aside its ideology and, therefore, its raison d’être. There is no pro-independence party more legitimate than another.
Independence is a coss-sectional idea, like the republic, and the fact of being a social democrat or a liberal or anything else, does not give more points to a party to lead the group of parties that defend this option.
In fact, the pro-sovereignty group would constitute, as a whole, a hypothetical parliamentary arch in balance. In the center-left we find ERC, which would defend social democracy, and in the center-right, JxCat, positioned as a more or less liberal force. Left from ERC we find the CUP and perhaps ECP, while to the right from JxCat there would be the very young PDCat and the newborn PNC.
It is true that these last two parties do not have parliamentary representation, but it is also true that their trajectory is still very tiny. The post-convergent space has not completely finished its regeneration, although it seems to be quite advanced.
On the other hand, as for ECP, although it does not really position itself as pro-independence, it calls itself pro-sovereignty and is in favor of the amnesty of political prisoners.
In any case, the pro-independence movement is not a party, not even a coalition of parties, but the basic structure of a parliament, of a complete democracy, perhaps even of a regime? which, in spite of the loud dissonances, is walking with the parsimonious slowness of a pachyderm, in a more or less diffuse direction. Political leaders do not need to unite, but simply agree on those points that are crucial for what is considered the common good. And this they can do if they have what is called a sense of state. And, for now, despite the disputes, despite the incidents and the backstabbing, they are succeeding. We may like it more or less, from an aesthetic point of view, but so far it does work.
As for the road map, maybe we should wake up, right?
In the past, the most astute commentators have explained to us how badly these and those politicians, and the other ones too, had done things. That they should have done this and not that, that they should have talked to this one and not that one, that they said this, but instead they did that. It is always easy to detect mistakes. Especially when there have been so many.
What if our perspective is failing us?
If we had been told, ten or twelve years ago, that we would be here now, most of us would have laughed our heads off. Literally. It would have seemed ridiculous or, at the very least, science fiction. And yet, the situation is really what it is, it’s not a dream or a nightmare, it’s reality.
To do what the independence movement as a whole has done in the course of the last decade is simply mind-blowing. They have done everything wrong, some say. But was there a right way to do all that? Politicians have simply done the best they could, improvising at every turn of the road. And, in fact, they have managed quite well, since, for now, the most serious thing has been bruises and imprisonments; quite serious, in some cases. But let us bear in mind that, historically, this type of process can degenerate into much more critical situations, both economically and in terms of physical safety. This has not been the case so far.
Demanding a road map is legitimate, but no matter how much of a road map is produced now, in half an hour’s time circumstances may have changed completely and, therefore, the road map will be useless. Those who want to go ahead with their pro-independence project will have to accept reality as it is. They will also have to assume that this reality is more changeable than ever. And they will have to assimilate that this process, if it goes ahead, can only do so slowly and with a single and constant sure thing: uncertainty.
ERC : Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, center-left
JxCat : Junts per Catalunya, center-right
CUP : Candidatura d’Unitat Popular, far-left
ECP : En Comu Podem,far-left (Podemos ally)
PdCat : Partit Democrata de Catalunya, liberal right
PNC : Partit Nacionalista de Catalunya, nationalist right
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