Mas: it’s a disgrace that the Spanish Attorney General calls Catalan process "tyranny"
The President of the Generalitat argues that if popular will had not democratically changed laws, then women would still not vote and "we would be in the Middle Ages"
Artur Mas, president of the Generalitat, considers it a "disgrace" that Spanish Attorney General Consuelo Madrigal identified the independence process in Catalonia with the concept of "tyranny". "It’s a disgrace that she referred to the essence of democracy and the fact that the people want to make decisions as tyranny", said the president at a CiU pre-election event in Móra la Nova (Ribera d’Ebre). As he explained, if the people, via the ballot, had not been able to change the laws, "humanity would not have progressed": "women would not be able to vote" and "we would still be in the Middle Ages".
Mas expressed outrage at Madrigal’s words attacking the independence process head-on and placing it squarely at the opposite end of the democracy that emerged from the principles of The Enlightenment. "Listening to the people, listening well, translating that into voting at the ballot box, leaving the decision to the people, acting in accordance with the results-- now it turns out that that is tyranny", he argued, upset. "Believers in democracy will never define listening to the people and acting accordingly as tyranny", he stressed.
In the context of the run-up to the municipal elections, Mas called for "a defense of the dignity of a people trampled by the Spanish State" as one of the central elements in the debate, as well as prioritizing the economy and the "fight to achieve the capacity to make decisions" that would allow the country to transform itself. He recognized that the severe economic downturn of the last few years has left "deep wounds", and said he hopes that the "turnaround" will have a healing effect. "To aspire that Catalonia becomes an independent country does not mean building a plaster-and-cardboard Catalonia", he said, and placed the country on par with other similar-sized European states, if the lack of "decision-making tools" can be resolved.
Monedero and Podemos
During his speech, the President also employed some of his usual maritime metaphors to describe the internal unrest in Podemos, following the announcement that the party’s number-two figure, Juan Carlos Monedero, had resigned after criticizing the party’s direction just before the campaign for the municipal elections. "Some of those who want to be skipper, but have no experience, are already fighting among themselves before the voyage even begins", he began. "It’s normal to have a quarrel after many years of marriage. But if there are quarrels and fights and mutual criticisms before you even begin your life together, it’s a bad sign. And especially so in newly-created, allegedly trendy political groups who talk a lot and are always on TV", he concluded.
