Sanitary cordons and firebreaks

The motion of censure interruptus Ripoll has once again highlighted the difficulty that some traditional parties have in relating to emerging far-right or populist political forces, whether they are Islamophobic or tap into the frustrations caused by the deterioration of the prosperity of the working classes due to the abandonment of the elites. I do not mean to say that some of Junts' reasons for not supporting the motion of censure should not be considered, because they are somewhere between the doubts that this type of uncomfortable situation can generate and the omnipresent partisan calculation between forces that form an electoral border, although it may generate incomprehension. That is how crude politics is.

However, among the arguments against the motion there is one that invites us to reflect: against the rise of the extreme right, there is no room for cordons sanitaires in Ripoll. And this reminds me that on Sunday there are important elections in Germany, where one of the most debated issues is the possibility of maintaining the current firewall (brandmauer) against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats have not stopped criticizing their conservative rivals from the CDU-CSU for "going back on their word" and accepting the AfD's votes in Parliament for their immigration restriction plan, thus eroding the current cordon sanitaire. We will see what happens on February 23. Depending on the results, the German right will have to choose between a Grosse Koalition with the SPD metal comrades or be carried away by the siren songs of neo-fascists, in a very delicate global context, in which the line separating the rule of law and social democracy from post-authoritarianism is blurred as a result of the rise and normalisation of Trumpism and its allies around the world.

The German conservatives of the CDU-CSU, the social democrats of the SPD, the Greens and the liberals of the FDP have so far maintained a firewall against Alternative für Deutschland, a political, ethical and institutional barrier or limit that tries to prevent the influence or the spread of newly known ideologies or behaviors that the majority consider militant race and a turbulent recent history. But this is a practice extended throughout Europe. In France, the center-right and the entire left formed a complex Republican Pact to prevent the victory of Le Pen's National Front in the legislative elections. In Sweden, for years, several parties maintained a grand agreement to exclude the Sweden Democrats. In Belgium, since the 1980s, traditional parties have maintained a sanitary cordon against the Vlaams Belang and its successive mutations. In short, in Italy, until the inexorable rise of the Meloni, the Italian parties avoided making agreements with Salvini's Lega.

And in Catalonia? Here, since Vox's emergence in the Parliament, this party has been subjected to isolation from the rest. And this has been extended to the Catalan Alliance. During the 2017-2021 legislature, the same was attempted against Ciutadans, after its electoral victory. The Tinell Pact of 2003 excluded the collaboration of the left with Aznar's Popular Party after the stage of CiU-PP pacts of late Pujolism. More recently, the 'popular' have been sidelined by Catalanist or left-wing parties in the local world and in other institutions due to their opposition to the sovereignty process or their role in the application of Article 155. Conversely, there have also been attempts at cordons sanitaires against the CUP promoted by constitutionalist parties such as the PP, Cs.

Certainly, the victimisation and electoral growth of those who have been driven away are arguments to be valued. Also the polarisation and the increase in social tensions and mistrust in democratic institutions so that some of the voters of these parties feel that their votes are despised or they are banished from the political game. However, it has been proven that neither controlled dialogue with the far-right forces, to moderate them, nor the demand for a minimum of respect for democratic principles and human rights work: the far-right challenges democratic principles with its intolerance. Hostility against migrants, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community or women is unbearable. Preventing the normalisation and legitimisation of hate speech is imperative if we want to avoid these parties sowing the seeds of division and attacking independent justice, free media, minority rights or the achievements made in terms of equity, social justice and integration.