Nothing quite like a Catalan regional election to show the world what a huge democratic deficit prevails in that part of Spain.
High on my list of failed characters is Carlos Puigdemont, a man who would have been disciplined and almost certainly sacked as a senior executive of any transparent business or the leader of any truly democratic party, but resurrects because he stands for a movement that believes only in its own narrow nationalist interests and has projected himself, quiet falsely, as the martyr of a noble cause.
He did not win the Catalan elections. The most voted leader in Catalonia was Ines Arrimadas whose Ciutadans party was the only one to see its electorate support increase substantially from the last election . Puigdemont’s claim to power, made in a ‘victory’ speech lacking any semblance of statesmanship, rests simply on opportunity and self-interest that ignores the votes of the majority party.
But worse is Puigdemont’s utter lack of remorse or contrition for having contributed to the absolute mess Catalonia is in socially and economically- a society utterly divided, and a huge fall off in investment and companies operating in Catalonia-the consequence of his decision to defy Spain laws and declare independence unilaterally, something no reasonable Scott or Basque Nationalist , let alone true anti-Brexit European would ever dream of.
By declaring last night that the “The Republic of Catalunya has won”, Puigdemont seems to expect that Spain’s justice system will simply accept that as a fact and allow him back into Spain free of charges of sedition and be crowned President again. His premise is false so that such an outcome may be unreal. For the courts to declare him innocent would be for them to accept he has been a victim of political persecution by the ‘ illegal’ state of Spain-unless he admits his was an illegal act originally.
The fact remains however that Puigdemont has found the victim card a political gift that has historically played well within Catalan nationalism. He now claims that of course Arrimadas only won what she won because it wasn’t a level playing field, when he knows that had he and other politicians not been prosecuted, they may have well have lost their majority of deputies , as well as votes.
Meanwhile the great loser of the Catalan elections is the Spanish prime-minister Mariano Rajoy who took the gamble of calling the Catalan elections, and can now claim zero credit. His Partido Popular sank to a derisory minimalist vote, just above the animals rights movement, not because many supporters voted tactically for Arrimadas, although some may have done so , but because an overwhelming majority of Catalans-right, left and centre- feel unrepresented by Mr Rajoy’s PP and because Ines Arrimadas , a young face, without a past, and with a fresh message capable of reaching beyond partisan or nationalist interests, represents to many the only voice of reason and compassion capable of countering the demagoguery of Puigdemont and partners.
Last night’s result gave a signal that Mr Rajoy has no legitimacy to lead, let alone broker any kind of a deal in Catalonia that can serve the interests of the whole of Spain, and Europe.
For now we have the spectacle of both My Puigdemont and Ms Arrimadas claiming they have won, despite each knowing that it is only half the truth.
Apart from claiming rhetorically that they speak for the interests of all Catalans, they have inhabited different ideological and political planets . Arramidas is as viscerally opposed to Catalan nationhood as Puigdemont is to having Catalonia part of the Spain as defined by the current constitution. They need to develop a shared space station. Politics is the art of the possible.
In the cold light of this morning I am struggling to see the Catalan election result as anything but a disaster for Catalonia and for Spain. The priority must be to avert the situation from spiralling into confrontation. There is a need for soft diplomacy and statesmanship which have been lacking until now. Puigdemont and Arrimadas need to defuse and dialogue, while in Madrid the PP should call for an extraordinary party conference to elect a new leader capable of helping forge a new consensual policy towards Catalonia that is in the best interests of Catalonia and Spain.
My lament is that the Catalan election campaign failed to produce the equivalent of Gordon Brown’s speech on the eve of the Scottish referendum when he appealed to the common good.
As the son of a Scot and a Castilian who has visited and lived in Catalonia childhood and counts Catalans among my many Spanish frends, the other night I dreamt I was on platform with Ines Arrimadas as she was making a speech passionately along these paraphrased lines. I wasn’t and she didn’t but there is still time.
“This is our Catalunya. Catalunya does not belong to the No campaign. Catalunya does not belong to the Yes campaign,” he said. “This is not their flag, their country, their culture, their streets.”
“There is not a cemetery in Spain that does not have Catalans, along with Castilians, Basques, Aragonese, Andaluzes, Gallegos,Asturians, and Cantabrians side by side. Our parents and grandparents suffered in one way or the other and made sacrifices but they and us built the peace and prosperity of modern Catalonia in Spain, in Europe together. What we have built together by sacrificing and sharing, let no narrow nationalism split asunder ever.”
