Discretion, symbols and urgency. Are we or are we not responsible?

Discretion, symbols and urgency are three words that show the moment in which the Catalans are living today and that fill pages and pages of media exhausting people’s patience.

We, the Catalans, have launched a complicated and complex political process which requires dialogue and diplomacy from all the main parties; and the secondary parties, that is the rest of the Catalans, have to let the others do what they have to do, accompanying them and giving them support.

The historical responsibility that we are currently living should instil in us satisfaction and pride for being able to live it. Instead of this, the irresponsibility and pettiness caused by some incites unreasonable confusion and doubt among ordinary people.

Only the unity of the Catalans, however moderate it might be, will allow us to take the step forward that the vast majority of Catalans want to take. We want to overcome the economic crisis and get the final and permanent recognition of the Catalan nation, the Catalan language, of what we are and have been...

Spain has gone too far, past the point of no return, and nothing will be as before. Another thing is what relationship with Spain will actually be like –and it is here where the differences lie.

Whilst we make our way, how should we act, all those who want to decide our collective future? With responsibility, working and being patient.

This collective process is not for those in a hurry, but for those who quietly and responsibly are looking for a viable solution and not just pie in the sky.

The more or less fortunate statements made by the main parties cannot give way to a continuous questioning of the whole process. It is time to stop throwing so much muck on ourselves. Let’s forget about words and let’s look at the facts. At the end of the day that’s what matters. Are we or are we not responsible?   

In a process such as the one we are living, discretion is fundamental so that the whole project is not derailed. I have never seen any serious negotiation done in the middle of a town square.

Do we have to negotiate? It is clear that we must negotiate. We do not live in isolation and free from being questioned. We need to negotiate here in Catalonia. We need to negotiate with Spain so that they either say yes or they close the door on us permanently. We need to negotiate with the European Union, United States, China and the other countries that have economic interests in Catalonia. If anyone thinks that all this can be done indiscreetly, then they have never negotiated

The impatience of some irritates the general public and provokes rejection among the undecided. It is these undecided people that we need in order to succeed in this process.

I often have said that Catalonia has no sponsors, but many detractors. It has no sponsors for holding any folkloric event that we may want to organise. It will be ok, however... and the day after? An event must be done so that the day after it has been held it is viable to maintain and internationally recognized.

I think the phrase of Artur Mas about Jordi Pujol was not suitable because of the way he said it, not for what he meant to say. This is because all the presidents of Catalonia are a symbol of who we the Catalans are and have been. Their political lives may have been more or less successful, but they have tried to serve the country. Their way through the first administration of Catalonia has enabled them to establish bridges with people of difficult access and if not through these bridges. Any serious country uses its former representatives to do discrete tasks which are not written in the news media, but in history books.

There is a will to destroy each and every one of the Catalan symbols: the nation, the language, the history past and present. Only the moral responsibility of the Catalans will stop this.

We need to work seriously, with discretion and patience.

I would like to recall the key elements of the agreement to govern signed between “Convergència I Unió” and “Esquerra Republicana” and signed in public on 19^th December of 2012.

• To summon the Catalan citizens to vote on their future during the year 2014 if possible and if not, by mutual agreement between the two parties to find a better date.

Someone with real power has said it will not be done? No. There are many opinions as to whether it is better one way or another, but nothing else.

• There is a scheduled agenda:

1. TA Declaration of Sovereignty of the people of Catalonia to be made by the Parliament of Catalonia.

a.    approved by the Parliament of Catalonia on 23^rd January 2013

b.  a voting which allows extending the consensus for the right to decide on March    13^th, 2013.

2. To approve a law of consultation during the year 2013.

a.  Currently this is in parliamentary process.

 b. The office of the Catalan Parliament admits it for process on April 16^th, 2013.

3. To start a process of negotiation and dialogue with Spain to exercise the right to decide and to call for a referendum. This request must be completed within the first semester of 2013.

a. The announcement of President Mas of his will to meet the Spanish Government president Mariano Rajoy on 27^th December 2012.

b. The announcement that the meeting between Mas and Rajoy will be secret on 7^th February 2013.

c. The secret or discrete Meeting between Mas and Rajoy early in the week from the 18^th to the 23^rd March 2013.

d. The meeting of Mas with PSOE’s Perez Rubalcaba on April 7^th of 2013.

e. As well as other meetings of which we do not have any knowledge

4. The creation of an Advisory Council for the National Transition.

a.    With the aim to prepare reports and working plans on State structures, studies on  the process to follow, to evaluate the resources we need and specific issues such as social security, double nationality, language, etc.

b. The Decree of creation on 12^th February 2013.

c. The resolution of the appointment of its members, 22^nd March 2013.

d. First constitutive meeting held on 12^th April, 2013.

5. To work out all the possible formal, legal and institutional procedures until 31^st December 2013.

a. A task which is carried out daily and discreetly in many diverse areas.

6. A call for the consultation for the right to decide during the year 2014 as long as the socioeconomic and politic conditions do not demand an extension, a possibility which will be agreed jointly by CiU and ERC.

a. It will be called when the conditions are most suitable for a victory.

• An agreement to strengthen the economic and social framework of the Catalan society to abandon the black hole we currently find ourselves in.

It seems obvious to me that a lot of work is being done and that in general we have little memory, especially if we care to remember the following dates:

§ Parliamentary elections in Catalonia: 25^th November 2012

§ Agreement to govern between CiU and ERC: December 19^th, 2012.

§ Artur Mas takes possession as President of the Generalitat of Catalonia: 24^th December 2012.

§ Inauguration of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia: 29 December 2012.

Shall we just calm down?

Jordi Colomines