The independence movement disdains the threat of illegalization of the PP

The threats of dissolution or illegalization of pro-independence parties and associations that the PP and Vox have once again put on the table do not seem to worry their eventual recipients. The pro-independence parties chose this Thursday to disdain the PP's proposal to dissolve those forces that promote illegal declarations of independence or referendums. The Popular Party's suggestion is included in the entire amendment to the amnesty law and seeks to introduce into the Penal Code a series of crimes for “constitutional disloyalty.” The sovereigntist groups described the idea as between authoritarian and totalitarian but did not show any surprise at the step taken by the PP and the majority addressed the matter, in the middle of the holidays, with a couple of messages of assessment on the networks.

He president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and his government remained silent and only the Minister of Feminism and Equality, Tània Verge, reacted to the amendment, accusing the PP of “hypocrisy” and “lack of democratic culture.” The counselor recalled, in an interview with SER Catalunya, that there is a report from the Council of Europe that urges the State to “repair all repression and stop persecuting a movement that defends the right to decide through peaceful and democratic means.” The Republican ironically encouraged the Popular Party to go to Strasbourg to explain their proposal to see “what response” they receive and if it is consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights or other parameters of democracy and freedom of expression.

Deputy Marta Vilalta, deputy general secretary of ERC, interpreted the PP's decision as one more step in her “career with Vox towards totalitarianism.” “This is not the first time they have tried to eliminate political adversaries and we will confront them as always. Because holding a referendum is not a crime. We will have amnesty and we will vote for our freedom,” she stated online. Along the same lines, the Republican spokesperson, Raquel Sans, accused the popular parties of not accepting the rules of democracy. “When you cannot win the game of democracy, you choose to dissolve and eliminate the adversary. The unique thought. If it is not totalitarianism, it is very similar,” she stressed.

Aware that the PP proposal has no sign of succeeding, Junts per Catalunya opted for the majority, like the CUP, for silence. Former councilor Josep Rull, president of the National Council of Junts, was practically the only one who reacted and, when asked by EL PAÍS, he judged the PP's decision as follows: “It is an expression of political impotence. When they have no arguments left, they only want to put down dissidence. “It demonstrates extraordinary political weakness.” The Catalan National Assembly (ANC) did not speak out and the president of Òmnium Cultural, Xavier Antich, pointed out: “Whoever says the most that they defend the rule of law is the one who ends up breaking it down the most. His threats do not scare us, we will continue defending self-determination and independence without renunciations. “We have every right!”

It is the expression of political impotence. When they have no arguments left, they only want to put down dissidence,” says former councilor Josep Rull (Junts).

In a pre-electoral year in Catalonia, ERC and the PSC are now mired in a struggle over the future of the Catalan Budgets that the Republicans want to link to their support for those of the State. The socialist Salvador Illa has already warned that he will not play “any trading card.” Despite mutual reproaches, Republicans and Socialists share a diagnosis about the PP: The Government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, stated this Wednesday that the PP's policies are “increasingly closer to the extreme right.” “It is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish PP and Vox when they have said 'we are going to illegalize parties,'” Illa concluded at an event in Gandesa, in Tarragona.

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