The prosecution of the political events known as "the process" should never have occurred. It is a sign of the incapacity most political forces involved to deal with a problem that is strictly political, neither public nor judicial. 40 years after the 1978 Constitution was approved, what now is going on is the questioning of the current constitutional model: the parliamentary monarchy and the regional territorial organization, among other issues. It is necessary to adapt our constitutional framework to the new needs and demands of our people.
Izquierda Unida has always defended a model of a republican and federal state where all the peoples and nationalities that make up Spain could live in solidarity and be part of the same country project that, respecting both its plurinational reality and the national feelings of all those who live in our country, a model that puts people’s material problems before any other consideration, guaranteeing all people the enjoyment of civil, social, environmental, labor, cultural and gender rights, regardless of where they reside. Undoubtedly, the Catalan people have the right to express themselves on which is the most appropriate way to be part of this project.
In Izquierda Unida we have been affirming that during the so-called "procés" there had been no crime of rebellion or sedition, since there has been no uprising, neither violent nor tumultuary, that attacked the judicial, executive or legislative powers of Spain, nor that alters public order preventing institutional functioning. There have been massive citizen mobilizations in Catalonia claiming a republican state for that territory, being neither politically nor legally acceptable that a popular and non-violent mobilization is equated with a rebellion or a sedition, even if it has claimed political objectives not provided for in our Constitution
The truth is that what was politically and legally evident has now also become clear in the Supreme Court ruling: in Catalonia there was no “coup d’etat” or any rebellion, no substitution of the institutionality of the State or the Autonomous Community for another, but political and non-violent actions that were intended to prevent the application of certain laws and judicial resolutions.
The fact that the Supreme Court has imposed prison sentences – which are very high – seems extremely disproportionate to us in view of the null institutional impact of the actions carried out by the convicted, which remained in mere political proclamations. We believe that no condemnation helps to find a political solution to the existing conflict in Catalonia, but rather with this condemnation, the political environment is tense again giving arguments to people and organizations that from extreme positions only intend to perpetuate and promote conflict to obtain political revenues in the short-term, fundamentally electoral, as we have seen with the irresponsible and repeated use of the threat of ending the self-government in Catalonia during the electoral campaign.
At this time it is essential that the political dialogue both between the central institutions of the State and the Catalonian institutions, the civil society and political forces in Catalonia and the rest of Spain is resumed so that, among all, we can find an understanding that allows us to resolve the political crisis in Catalonia. It is necessary to build a broad agreement on the constitutional model that guarantees the coexistence of Catalonia and the rest of the people of Spain in a plurinational, federal and republican State project where everyone feels as a participant in a common country Project.
Izquierda Unida will work for a political solution that, based on the dialogue, normalizes the situation and makes a new territorial model possible reflecting the plurinationality of the State. For this, it is essential that there no person is deprived of their liberty or be forced to leave Catalonia for having defended or carried out independence policies or for having democratically defended any other political position.
COLLEGIATE COMMISSION OF IZQUIERDA UNIDA,
comision.colegiada@izquierdaunida.org