The DUI, the date erased by the independence movement

BarcelonaThis Monday will mark eight years since the Catalan Parliament proclaimed the Catalan Republic after the victory of the "yes" vote in the 1-O referendum. That was the most politically significant day in the history of the chamber. But an hour later, the Senate applied Article 155 of the Constitution and suspended self-government by dissolving Parliament. The unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) remained a dead letter, without any effect, and in fact, the government did not publish it in the Catalan Parliament. Official Journal of the Generalitat of Catalonia (DOGC). On the eve of a new October 27th, the DUI is a date erased by the independence movement.

None of the parties that piloted the Process are organizing any explicit commemorative event beyond any political statements that may be made during the anniversary. Of the actors who played a central role in the Process, only the ANC advocates lifting the DUI. In fact, a Northern Catalan delegation from the Assembly, with members from the borders of the Council of the Republic and the Casa Macià, will demand its reactivation before the Parliament at 4:59 p.m., the time the DUI was approved eight years ago. They will do so after a sixteen-day walking route from the Porta dels Països Catalans (Port of the Catalan Countries), in Salses. Paradoxically, this Monday may also be the day that Junts, with its executive meeting in Perpignan, decides to break with the PSOE.

Since 2017, Junts has continued to talk about the "1-O mandate," but without specifying what it means and at the same time entering into a negotiation process with the Spanish government that may now have come to an end. During the 1-O anniversary, former president Carles Puigdemont claimed "the validity" of the referendum result and called for "finishing the job." In this sense, in the general policy debate, the regional council members brought a resolution that failed to succeed, proposing agreeing to a referendum at the negotiating table with the PSOE. In short, the regional council members advocate agreeing to a new consultation.

In October 2017, ERC was one of the actors that pushed hardest to get to the end. On October 26th eight years ago, when Puigdemont was considering calling elections, the Republicans threatened to leave the government if the declaration wasn't voted on. Now, however, October 27th is not the guiding light for Oriol Junqueras's party. This is due to all the legal consequences it entailed and because they interpret that, unlike October 1st, it didn't yield substantial benefits. Under this premise, the party shelved its commitment to unilateralism. The CUP, which was also among those who most insisted on not going back on those dizzying days of autumn 2017, is committed to once again exercising the right to self-determination, without renouncing unilateral action, but aware of the difficulties in doing so.

The Catalan Alliance is the only parliamentary party that demands the implementation of the mandate of 1-O and stated this during the general policy debate, justifying its rejection of Junts' proposal to hold a new referendum. "Yes, I voted against Junts' proposal to hold another referendum. Against those who want to hold referendums." ad eternum to live off the rent, those of us who want to apply the result of what we already did and won by a resounding majority," said its leader, Silvia Orriols, in a tweet, in response to the criticism she received for her vote against and despite the fact that there is no longer a pro-independence majority in Parliament.

civic list in the last elections, also wants to present a battle in Parliament with the sole point of lifting the suspension of the DUI. Beyond these two formations and some other more minority or the ANC, the bulk of the movement has turned the page on the 27-0 of 2017. surrender"

Political scientist Marc Guinjoan sees it as logical that the independence movement doesn't embrace the 27-O referendum: "The proclamation led nowhere. We Catalans live off failures, but this wasn't even an attempt; it wasn't a sincere act of seeking constitutional consolidation." In the university professor's opinion, the DUI was nothing more than "a headlong flight" in which the leaders of the independence process felt "cornered by circumstances" and proclaimed it "without any desire for legal consequences." The fact that it wasn't proclaimed in the plenary session of the Parliament, that it wasn't included in the Official Gazette of Catalonia (DOGC), that the Spanish flag wasn't removed from the balcony of the Generalitat (Catalan Parliament), and that the president went into exile demonstrates, according to Guinjoan, that it was a "symbolic" act.

The fact that the proclamation was delayed and left on October 10th in anticipation of a possible negotiation that never materialized or the recognition of a state is also evident. "Be that as it may, nothing had been prepared; the repression was brutal and the situation was very complex. The DUI is the acceptance of the surrender that you haven't been able to achieve, but that's what happens in a struggle between an autonomous region and a State that has a monopoly on force, both executive and judicial," adds the political scientist. The realization of this defeat is the key to understanding its neglect in contrast to other dates: "We can identify more valuable moments like October 1st and 3rd, which people speak of with pride, but what should be celebrated on October 27th?" asks Guinjoan, who concludes that "not many incentives are generated."