New leadership for a new country

As Josep Ramoneda said, the sovereignty process necessarily brings with it a great transfer of power that has to pass from one group of people to another. The last few years in Catalonia have seen a generational change in the country's elites that is closely tied to the current political situation. These new Catalan elites serve side by side with the old in a natural process of substitution that is, naturally, not without tension. Advanced societies, however, are those that constantly renew their elites and apply a meritocracy.

One must keep in mind that no country can function without elites, without prepared people in all areas willing to assume responsibility for collective governance. And these people do not all have to think alike; on the contrary, it is the richness of positions and variety of approaches that help generate enriching debate that is useful for society.

At ARA we have chosen the 50 voices that we consider the most significant, and have collected their views on the question of independence. Our intention couldn't be further from making a list of good and bad; rather, our objective is to show that a plurality of opinions is a prerequisite for building an authentically pluralistic and democratic society. And conditions must be maintained that allow everyone to freely express their opinions, in the same way that we must respect those who decide not to express themselves. Catalan media have a special responsibility in this respect, and we must not hide behind the fact that Madrid-based media, both public and private, do not apply the same criteria of pluralism. As we have said in previous editorials, the process must contain the seed of the future society that we all want to build.

But the greatness of democracy lies in the fact that one vote is the same for everyone. Leadership is important because it has to carry out the will of the majority, but one cannot make the mistake of trusting everything to a few people, as important as they may be. The sovereignty process has had the virtue of creating new leadership and of dragging the old forward, of projecting an image of broad-based support that is one of its strong points. This is especially true when outsiders insist that all of this is nothing more than maneuvers by the bourgeoisie to maintain its grip on power and cover up endemic corruption. To listen to all the voices and integrate all views into projects for the future: this is the main challenge that we face together.