Pedro Sanchez, Prime
Minister of Spain since June 2018, has had a few months to form his
views of the Catalan independence case from his new lookout point.
During the long Catalonian crisis of 2017-18 Sanchez as leader of the
opposition had been fully supportive of the PP Government's
introduction of central rule (article 155), even demanding tougher
action before the government did. But now Sanchez heads a weak
minority government. To move the conflict out of the deadlocked
position it is in he needs to show a more constructive attitude and
distinguish himself from the unyielding stances of Mariano Rajoy, his
predecessor, and Quim Torra, the new Catalonian PM since May.
An early signal of
motion came this summer when Sanchez had a skirmish in the Congress
of Deputies with ERC representatives of Catalonia. The independentistas
were demanding another referendum on independence. To
that Sanchez responded – showing some sympathy – that "Catalonia
has self-government statutes which they did not vote for, but which
were the product of a Constitutional Court judgement [in 2010],
therefore the crisis can only be put right by voting. But the
fundamental difference between us," he emphasized, "is that
we want to vote an agreement, whereas you are aiming to vote for a
rupture." (La Vanguardia 2018/07/17)
By referring to the
sore point of the autonomy statutes voted by Catalonia in 2006 but
rejected by the Constitutional Court in 2010, Sanchez put himself
for a moment on the side of the separatistas – not because he
shared their goal, but because the Court's handling of the statutes
had been a PP (conservative) project not shared by the social
democratic PSOE.
Later (September 3)
Pedro Sanchez gave a long interview with Cadena Ser. Since
this was his first in-depth commentary on the conflict after taking
over as head of government, it may be worth having a look at what he
said, as reported by El Pais. Sanchez started by emphasizing
the basics of the government's position: "Law and dialogue".
To an outside observer this seems appropriate, to say the least. Both
law and dialogue have suffered in Catalonia for years. A rogue
minority has grabbed for itself 100% of the power that it has only
47% of the voters' support for. Dialogue has been professed as a
goal, but only if the outcome is given at the outset as independence.
As Sanchez emphasized in the interview, "It is not independence
that is at risk in Catalonia, it is civic coexistence within
Catalonia." Dialogue in this case has two dimensions –
dialogue with Madrid, and dialogue within Catalonia.
In other words, the
need for Catalans to talk with their opponents at home was a central
theme for Sanchez. "The first that needs to be done is to set
the foundations for an institutionalized dialogue." Sanchez' words recall the East European processes of round-table dialogue in the early
1990s, where opposing groups with fundamentally different views would
meet regularly to seek consensus on ways forward. The Catalan
separatists seem to be unaware of recent European history. In
Sanchez' words, "The independence movement needs to become
self-critical."
In an aside the
Prime Minister touched on an issue especially sensitive this summer,
the yellow ribbons worn to remind separatist sympathizers of
so-called 'political prisoners', those Catalan activists and
politicians who were jailed and are awaiting trial for organizing the
illegal October 1st referendum of 2017. Even buildings
have been adorned with these symbols, and loyalists have been
arrested or attacked for trying to remove them. - "I am against
all the symbols that separate," says Sanchez. "The only way
to solve the crisis is to overcome bloc politics."
I believe Sanchez,
if he sticks to the points made in this interview, has found a few
elements of wisdom that could nudge Catalonia towards healing. But
they need to be picked up by the separatists as well. Their stance
continues to be irreconcilable.
