Alex Cubero |
Lleida (EFE).- By practical unanimity, ERC has approved in its 29th national congress a new political roadmap that, among other points, clearly supports the agreed referendum and establishes what its minimum conditions should be.
These are the ten keys to the political presentation of the Republicans, under the title “The democratic path of the referendum”, which has been approved with 632 votes in favor, 7 against and 14 abstentions from the militants:
Bet on dialogue and the agreed referedum
Defining themselves as pro-independence and “referendistas”, the Republicans reaffirm their commitment to the agreed referendum, since it is “the best way” to achieve independence with “the legitimacy and validity it needs to be accepted internally and internationally approved”.
In addition, it vindicates the negotiation table with the State and the “historic achievement” that the repeal of the crime of sedition entails, although it makes it clear that the final objective of this process of de-judicialization is amnesty and self-determination, for which the independence movement it must be “stronger” and achieve large majorities.
Canadian Clarity Agreement
The document highlights the proposal of the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, to promote a “Clarity Agreement”, following the Canadian path with Quebec: “It is the main way for Catalonia to once again vote for an effective referendum and resolve the conflict.”
It would be a process in two phases: first, an internal debate in Catalonia with pro-independence actors, but also “non-independence or pro-sovereignty Catalanists”, to “unify criteria and establish bases and conditions for a referendum”; and once that “country proposal” was articulated, it would move to the negotiating table with the State to agree on that hypothetical consultation.
The Montenegrin formula
Anticipating this future debate, ERC outlines its own referendum proposal, based on the Montenegrin formula, which recalls that “it received European endorsement, after being discussed and recognized multilaterally by Montenegro and Serbia, as well as the EU”.
That formula would go through a referendum with a “clear question” and a binary answer; all residents of Catalonia over the age of 16 and non-residents who have the right to vote in the Catalan elections could vote; and the triumph of independence would require a minimum of 50% participation and 55% “yes”, after which a negotiation process “in good faith” would be opened between Catalonia and the State, with European and international mediation.
The learnings of 2017
ERC considers the referendum of October 1 as a “collective exercise of peaceful and democratic disobedience”, but admits that it must be “honest” with factors that played against it in 2017, such as “the lack of international recognition, the unionist mobilization of hostile and threatening character, the offensive of the State in the form of political repression and the lack of participation of some social, political and institutional actors”, “unforeseen” events that the party “will take into account on future occasions”.
Alliances with the Spanish left before PP and VOX
Faced with a hypothetical “Spanish right-wing” government in the next Spanish legislature, ERC defends forging international alliances, but also “interweaving strategies with the Spanish left and with other nations without a state” in Spain and, above all, with sovereignist organizations from the «Catalan Countries».
Antidote to the anti-political pro-independence discourse
Contrary to the “short-flight partisanship and tactics”, the paper claims diversity as a strength of the independence movement and calls to curb “polarization” and combat “hate speech of a xenophobic, anti-political nature and that belittles its own institutions and puts in question risk social cohesion’; Against this, he positions ERC as an «antidote.
Against the B-40 and the expansion of the airport
In full budget negotiations and days after, to try to unravel an agreement, ERC gave in to the PSC and agreed to execute the B-40 del Vallès, the presentation qualifies that this is not its mobility model and warns that “it does not accept management lessons from those who have always directed Renfe and have turned it into the current chaos or defend anachronistic projects imposed by the State such as the Fourth Belt or the expansion of the airport ».
Municipal elections with Barcelona in their sights
The May elections are also present in the document, which trusts in “a great leap” in the metropolitan cities” and a victory in Barcelona; In addition, ERC “prioritizes” agreements in town halls and local entities with pro-independence or “self-deterministic” parties that accept that municipalities work for independence.
Good governance to achieve independence
For ERC, the best way to achieve independence is through “good governance” and demonstrating the usefulness of “purely republican” policies: this involves assuming all possible government responsibilities and an agenda marked by decent work, green reindustrialization, the effective right to housing, feminism or the 2030 Agenda as an environmental reference.
Avoid the “minorization” of Catalan
To these points is also added the promotion of Catalan as the “backbone of social cohesion” and “own language” of Catalonia; but ERC warns that “demographic changes and in the consumption of cultural goods have meant that the main language of socialization is Spanish”, for which reason it urges to reverse this trend so that Catalan does not become a “minoritized” language .
