Antoni Bassas' analysis: '20 years of the Statute: more important than being right is being proven right'
And here we are, back to square one. Yesterday, in Barcelona and before Pimec, the Catalan small and medium-sized enterprise, Pedro Sánchez assured that before the end of the year (less than three months away), Catalonia will have a new financing system that will respect the principle of ordinality.
"The proposed organic law establishing the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and repealing Organic Law 4/1979, of December 18, on the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, was approved by 120 votes in favor and 15 votes against."
Today marks 20 years since that moment.September 30, 2005. The Catalan Parliament approves the draft Statute of Autonomy for Catalonia, which it will send to Congress. Twenty years have passed, and the protagonists of that day are political history. Pasqual Maragall, then president; Artur Mas, leader of the opposition; Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira, then leader of Esquerra; Joan Saura, minister…
They all pushed for an agreement intended to give Catalonia a new legal framework because the 1979 treaty had become too small. It involved recognizing Catalonia as a nation, providing it with a fair financial system, and securing its powers so that no Spanish government could challenge them. That day, 90% of the Parliament voted in favor of the new Statute. The vote was 120 to 15. Months later, Congress approved the Statute, which was then put to a referendum, where the "yes" vote won. But the PP, which had collected 4 million signatures against the Statute (because, as we know, anti-Catalanism wins votes), took it to the Constitutional Court, which, despite the massive support the text enjoyed in Catalonia, pared it down. So, in the end, the 15 won in that vote, which ended 120 to 15.
What came next is well known, including an attempt to declare independence, something none of us in Catalonia at the time could have imagined. In the 20 years that have passed, Catalonia has been loaded with arguments: it drafted the Statute of Autonomy as required by law, approved it by a vast majority, but it was all for nothing. As we know, in politics, as in life, more important than being right is being proven right.
And here we are, back at square one. Yesterday, in Barcelona and before Pimec, the Catalan small and medium-sized enterprise, Pedro Sánchez assured that before the end of the year (less than three months) Catalonia will have a new financing system which will respect the principle of ordinality.
Today the president of Esquerra, Oriol Junqueras, will announce that he will run for the presidency of the GeneralitatHe couldn't run now because he's disqualified and hasn't received the amnesty, but what I want to emphasize is: What will Junqueras talk about today at the conference where he'll make the announcement? Public services, housing, financing, a specific minimum wage for Catalonia. These would have been perfectly possible topics on September 30, 2005, 20 years ago today.
Good morning.
